The Missing Brick: Connecting Rebooted and The Tournament of Elements
by Soul Stealer 2K4
Summary: What happened between the end of the Rebooted season and the Tournament of Elements season? How did Zane get rebuilt? How did he and Pixal end up on Chen's Island? How did Chen find out Zane was still alive? This story will attempt to connect the dots as seamlessly as possible, while throwing in a bit of fluff for good measure. Rated T just in case. Enjoy.
1. Introduction IMPORTANT PLEASE READ

**Dear Readers,**

Thank you for your kind words and amazing patience. **Please read this introduction chapter, it is important!**

This fanfic – and the other two which will also be coming out soon – have been written, in their entirety, from start to finish. In other words, these stories already have pre-determined ending. No waiting months for the next chapter; it is already written, and merely needs to be posted.

I have worked on this and my other two fanfics for over a year, to make sure they are as coherent as possible.

This one in particular is my attempt at filling in the gaps between the Rebooted season and the Tournament of Elements season. As such, I have tried to keep the characters as true as possible, but owing to the fluff parts between Zane and Pixal, sometimes this accuracy falls to the wayside.

But first, a few notes:-

1) Canonically speaking, Ninjago takes place in a universe which fuses Japanese and Chinese cultures and language. As my current knowledge is limited to Japanese culture (I've been there 3 times and have learned the language to a basic conversational level), you will find Japanese words and etiquettes detailed within. I'm not a weeaboo, I'm a Japanophile – there is a difference. I'm planning to do a Japanese degree at university next year and hope to become a translator.

2)There are some new characters, however, they are not self-inserts, neither are they perfect; they have their own faults, their own history and their own problems. I created them for the purpose of world building and explaining how Zane got his body back and ended up on Chen's island.

3)I want to reiterate that I have tried to keep canonical personality and speaking rhythms among the characters, but it may falter on occasion because of the fluff between Zane and Pixal.

4)There are some things that will be brought up in one chapter that will not be resolved until a later chapter, so please save your questions for the end of submission. If after reading the whole story, you see a plot hole or don't understand the logistics of something, don't hesitate to get in touch.

5)Lastly, bear in mind that I am British, so while I have made an effort to write in a way that Americans will understand as well (i.e. writing "paper towels" instead of "kitchen roll"), some British mannerisms, slang terms and idioms have slipped through because I couldn't find the American equivalent.

Thank you and I hope you enjoy my efforts.

Soulie x


	2. Digital Resurrection

The snow was falling, the sun was getting low, and Pixal trudged on along the snowy mountain top with a marked determination in her eyes. She had been travelling for several hours now, following a GPS route that had taken her far away from the familiarity of New Ninjago city. This was a most important journey, nothing was going to stop her – not even the voice inside which warned her of the dangers she could be facing.

"We are almost there." She said out loud.

There had been a very interesting start to this day, she still struggled to believe the amazing events which had led to her being on this icy precipice…

 _ **Earlier that day, in the morning…**_

 _She leaned against the window, her heart full of unbridled sadness, watching from above as the funeral service came to a close; the ninja stood together by Zane's new memorial statue while a gentle snow began to fall. She sighed. It's not like she didn't want to go – Cyrus Borg had specifically offered her the day off and an escorted ride – but it was just too painful._

 _Suddenly the screens of the nearby console flashed to life and Zane's face appeared. CCTV footage from the past few weeks played back, his voice rang out of the speakers and electrical signals visibly jolted from screen to screen. Pixal gasped and ran down to the manufacturing floor as fast as she could, the possibilities running through her mind as she burst through the doors and leaping onto the conveyor belt._

 _That's when it happened._

" _Are we… compatible now?" Zane asked._

 _As she stood on the assembly line, surrounded by the machining arms, she could have burst with joy at hearing Zane's voice once again. He was back!_

 _Well, sort of._

" _Zane!" She squeaked happily. "But, how?"_

" _The Overlord destroyed my body, but I managed to upload my digital subconscious to Cyrus Borg's system in the final moments," Zane replied, his voice echoing out of the speakers above her. "I would have found you sooner, only breaking through the inner layer of firewalls was more complicated than I thought."_

" _I cannot tell you how good it is to hear your voice," She smiled. "oh! We must tell your friends, they will be thrilled!"_

" _No!" He yelled, feeling slightly guilty as Pixal jumped from his sudden shouting. "No, we cannot tell them, not yet anyway."_

" _But… they are your friends, they will want to know that you are safe."_

" _Please, Pixal, I am no use to the team without my body." Zane sighed._

" _Could we perhaps rebuild it?" She wondered. "We have plenty of resources here, I am certain Mr Borg would not mind."_

" _We could, but it is not that simple, we would need to go back to my father's underground lab and find my blueprints," He explained. "to do so would put you at great inconvenience, not to mention great danger if the Treehorns have returned – I could not ask such a huge favour."_

" _I'll do it!" She insisted, the resolve in her voice ringing out._

 _Zane chuckled._

 _For her to show such determination was admirable. More than that, he was flattered that she thought so much of him that she was willing to do this. But he was still concerned about what he was asking of her. Aside from the adventure she had taken with them defeating the Overlord, she had spent her whole life in New Ninjago, and most of that time was arguably spent in this tower assisting Cyrus Borg. Her lack of experience in the wider world frightened him._

" _I appreciate your enthusiasm, but I am still hesitant for you to make the journey alone." Zane remarked._

 _Pixal looked thoughtful for a moment, before eagerly grinning._

" _There is a spare hard drive in the system upstairs, can you reroute your subconscious into it?" She asked._

" _I can, what did you have in mind?" He wondered._

" _I will explain, but for now, find the empty '/L:' drive," Pixal smiled again. "I will meet you there."_

 _Suddenly the green lights that surrounded her all went dark._

 _She leapt from the assembly line and bolted back up the stairs. The power source inside her began to swell with excitement as she gleefully launched herself back toward the main console room – such was the exhilaration and relief that came with knowing that Zane was still here. Losing him was an excruciating experience, she had never known such agony before. Time seemed to stop. His friends busied themselves making funeral arrangements, though Nya had stopped by every day to console her. Even Mr Borg seemed to have understood her pain, offering her 'compassionate leave' and checking up on her much more frequently than usual._

" _Zane, are you here?" She called out as she approached the console._

 _His face appeared on one of the monitors and he smiled at her warmly; she almost fell to her knees again at the mere sight of him._

" _I found the drive, I am fully transferred onto it." Zane said._

" _Good." Pixal retrieved the drive, and his face disappeared from the screen as she removed it._

 _She opened her chest cavity. For a moment, she held the precious hard drive to her face, still warm from the transfer. She reached in and attempted to locate a spare SATA cable – she knew she had one somewhere… ah, there it was, behind the power source Zane had given to her. Pixal paused for a moment, moved by the generous gesture he had made when the power had been switched off; he risked his life to save her, and they had only known each other a few days at the time._

 _With a beaming smile, she plugged the SATA cable into the hard drive. A rush of electricity swept across her body, and a familiar face appeared on her interior vision._

 _["Pixal…"] Zane murmured. ["You're a genius!"]_

" _You are right, I cannot do this alone," Pixal mused. "only you know the exact whereabouts of your father's lab."_

 _["Will you be okay doing this?"] Zane asked, concerned about the long distance ahead of them._

" _With the gift you gave me, our mission is guaranteed to be a success!" She said, tucking the hard drive below her glowing heart and closing her chest cavity. "There is one thing I need to do first."_

* * *

Pixal stopped for a moment.

"Zane, could you locate the entrance and relay the coordinates back to me?"

["Of course,"] He replied, updating the coordinates on Pixal's internal map. ["I am very thankful to you for doing this."]

"It's my pleasure," She softly spoke as she walked a little further, following the new route. "I cannot tell you how pleased I am to have you back."

["Well, thank you…"] He said, looking mildly flustered.

She rather enjoyed seeing his sheepish smile on her interior vision, she was especially glad to have him with her physically; it might have been easier and safer to leave the hard drive in the console and rely on high strength signals to have his assistance, but there was a certain amount of comfort in having the drive with her.

["There,"] He suddenly said. ["do you see the tree with the symbol carved into it?"]

Pixal walked over to the tree Zane spoke of. It was larger than the other trees, having a wide trunk and the vague outline of a door around the symbol he'd mentioned. She reached out and opened the door. Slightly wary, she paused and looked in, seeing a spiral staircase winding around the outside of the large, cylindrical room. A flashlight popped out of her left shoulder and shone into the darkened area.

As she slowly descended the long set of stairs, she couldn't help but notice Zane's expression turn quite soft and nostalgic. He had said that this is the place where he was built and raised by his father, Dr Julien. Though she did not have such an emotional attachment to her place of manufacture, she did understand the feeling of having a paternal role model; Mr Borg was very much like a father to her, even if it hadn't started that way. So much was her daughterly respect for Mr Borg that she felt the need to get his permission before she went on this little trek.

 _ **Earlier that day, still in the morning…**_

 _Cyrus Borg was busy in his office, making sure all was well with the system. He had just been to Zane's funeral service, and as he went from screen to screen checking power levels, his thoughts drifted to Pixal. His dear assistant had not been herself since that day, her heart ostensibly broken by the loss she had suffered. She was so devastated she couldn't even bring herself to go to the service with him – she didn't want to say goodbye, no doubt. Cyrus had tried to keep an eye on her as much as he could, but having experienced his own losses, he knew that no amount of coddling would help her._

 _The more he thought about it, the more he had come to see Pixal as a daughter, rather than just an assistant. She was supposed to be one of many, the prototype AI for a brand-new line of personal assistant robots. But somewhere along the line, her personality evolved – perhaps the AI was smarter than he realised – and she became so much more than her intended purpose._

" _Mr. Borg, may I have a moment of your time?"_

 _Cyrus turned to see Pixal standing in the doorway._

" _Hello my dear," he smiled. "what can I do for you?"_

" _I wondered if it would possible for me to take some time off," She asked, bowing politely. "I wish to pay respects to Zane at the place of his origin."_

 _Secretly, Cyrus was thrilled to see her getting out and about from the console room; she had been spending perhaps too much time there, looking at footage from the previous weeks and trying to hear Zane's voice once again._

" _Yes, of course, take all the time you need!" He smiled widely. "Would you like me to arrange a chaperoned car?"_

" _Thank you, sir, but it is not the sort of journey that can be taken by car – I assure you I am adequately equipped to handle it," She bowed again. "I have obtained the coordinates, with my advanced GPS system it is simply a matter of tracking a route to the exact geographic location."_

" _Well, if you are certain," Cyrus nodded. "I do have one request however…"_

" _Anything." She responded cheerfully._

" _You must allow me to track your location as you go, and you must use your internal S.O.S button if there is an emergency," He mentioned. "Zane sacrificed himself to save this city, I can't have anything bad happening to you too."_

 _Pixal saw Zane nodding in agreement on her internal vision._

" _I agree to your terms, Mr. Borg." She replied._

 _Cyrus approached her, his face overflowing with pride at the droid before him._

" _You truly are my greatest achievement." He softly spoke._

 _The depth of the situation seemed to affect him in a way he didn't expect. He looked away for a moment, as he felt tears in his eyes that threatened to fall._

" _Now run along," He insisted, wiping away the errant fluid building up on his cheeks. "I don't know how far you have to go, but you should gear up all the same."_

 _Pixal gave a deep, sincere bow, before giving her employer a gentle hug. She then ran out the door and made her way back to the console room. As she spun around with the buzz of adventure running through her circuits, Zane was laughing joyously. Suddenly she stopped._

 _["Is everything alright?"] Zane asked._

" _I am just wondering what will be required for this," Pixal thought out loud. "Mr Borg is correct, we should prepare for such a journey."_

 _["The last time we were there, we had gone through a desert and a snowy mountain range, and my falcon was leading the way; we didn't know where we were going so we had to run just to keep up with it,"] He explained. ["this time I have the exact coordinates."]_

" _How long do you think it will take us to get there?"_

 _["From New Ninjago? Depending on walking speed, we could be there by nightfall if we left now,"] He guessed, breathing out a heavy sigh. ["I can share with you my knowledge of Spinjitzu and other fighting techniques, but without my body I cannot protect you physically; that is what I meant when I said this could put you in danger."]_

" _I would do anything for you Zane," She said confidently. "and now that you are back, nothing can stop us."_


	3. Revisiting Origins

She didn't know what she'd need for the journey, but eventually settled on taking a small stash of spare parts and, on Zane's insistence, copied and saved his combat moves to her protective reflex database. Reaching the bottom of the stairs, she looked around. It was certainly a place of humble beginnings; Zane's level head and modest attitude were reflected in the unassuming home where he grew up.

["This is where I found out I was a droid,"] He mentioned. ["up until I found this place, I thought I was human – a strange human, but a human nonetheless."]

"Your old body must have been more advanced than I first assumed." She remarked.

["How do you mean?"] He wondered.

"You live in communal quarters with the other ninja, if you did not see a difference between yourself and your compatriots then your body must have been anatomically correct." She stated boldly, unaware of the implication she was making.

She noticed Zane's eyes go wide and he suddenly looked rather embarrassed. She was about to comment on it, but then something on the table caught her eye; the blueprints. She slowly approached the desk and reached out to pick up them up, only to trip on a loose floorboard. As Pixal hit the floor with a sickening thud, Zane panicked.

["Pixal!"] He yelled out worriedly.

"I'm alright." She assured him, sitting up.

This time something else caught her eye – through the gap created by the loose board being moved, a familiar blue light shone upwards. She shuffled over and looked in the space under the floor. The luminescence stroked her cheek; her face faintly lit up by the glow of a round radiant orb. She reached in and pulled it out; it was about the size of a mechanical alarm clock and the general shape of a hockey puck.

Zane couldn't believe what he was seeing.

["Another power source…"] He murmured with a half-smile on his face. ["even in death, my father is full of surprises."]

He always thought that his power source was one of a kind, and that he lost it forever when his body exploded during the fight with the Overlord. Pixal opened her chest plate and put the second power source next to Zane's drive. Shortly afterward, the purple circuit lines on her face and body began to light up. She looked at this sudden development with great curiosity.

"What's going on?" She wondered.

["The excess energy has to go somewhere,"] Zane theorised. [it might not be hooked up to anything, but it still gives off waves of electricity."]

"Of course, how could I forget." She said, remembering the residual shock she got when she first touched his power source not too long ago.

As she adjusted to this strange new feature, she stood up and once again walked toward the desk. Dusting off the stack of blueprints, she perused through them and had a first-hand look at Dr Julien's design work. There were plans for a robotic falcon, a cyborg dog, even some prototypes for prosthetic limbs. Then she found Zane's prints, only there were two different kinds – one was for the sweet, heroic droid she knew and the other appeared to be an unused draft for a much younger version of him.

"You were very cute as a baby." She grinned as she held it up.

["Thank you."] He smiled back, looking a little embarrassed.

She put the draft down and retrieved his adult blueprints, folding them neatly and placing them next to the secondary power source she found earlier.

["Would you mind if we stayed a few more minutes?"] Zane asked. ["I do not have the opportunity to come here very often."]

"Of course." Pixal replied with a smile.

She looked around at the unusual accommodation and wondered what Zane was like in those days. It slowly dawned on her that this was the furthest she had ever been from her home; she could only imagine that that's how Zane felt when he was away from here. He wasn't kidding when he said it was completely out of the way. Not that it made any difference to her – it could've been on the other side of the planet and she still would have gone on this journey for him.

 _ **Earlier that day, outside Borg Industries…**_

" _This is quite exciting," She said as she strolled through the busy streets. "I don't get to see the city very much."_

 _["I was concerned about that,"] Zane admitted. ["I did not know how often you get to leave the tower."]_

" _You must understand, while I only leave Borg Industries a handful of times a year, I am not a prisoner there," She mentioned. "I am highly aware of my surroundings and can handle myself among the general public."_

 _["Forgive me,"] He sighed. ["I cannot help but be a little worried – you are going to great lengths to assist me, yet I am of little use in this form."]_

" _I'm just relieved that you are back," She paused for a moment, a coy smile gracing her lips as she touched her chest. "and... it is nice to have you near me."_

 _Zane appeared to mirror her sheepishness. She looked at his image displayed on her interior screen; he looked down at his hands and momentarily tried to hide his blushing face. Eventually he looked up again._

 _["It is... comforting to be close to you again, also."] He murmured._

 _A contented, warm silence drifted between them. The loud, bustling sounds of the city rumbled around them, barely noticeable in the serene cloud of their own little world. They had not known each other long, but from the very first moment there was an undeniable spark between them. Pixal had never met a droid like him before, he was special; unique and powerful yet adorably vintage, technologically speaking._

 _After a while, she found herself walking past a lush, green park. She stopped and realised where they were – the garden which held Zane's memorial statue. The ceremony was over, the ninja had gone, and the park was peaceful. As much as she wanted to stop and admire it, she thought it best to just keep going. Zane did not appear to have seen it, his eyes were glazed over, as though he were lost in a daydream. She recognised the look – she had been that way herself in the gap between Zane's sacrifice last week and his apparent resurrection this morning – though he held an expression of happiness whereas she had been wallowing in the depths of grief._

" _Zane, I still think it would bring your friends much joy to know you are back."_

 _["I appreciate your concern,"] He stated. ["but I am, for all intent and purposes, incapacitated."]_

" _You place a lot of value of yourself as a ninja and a team member," Pixal noted. "you do not seem to see the value of yourself as an individual."_

 _Zane thought over this for a moment._

" _You are so important, Zane, you should not underestimate the impact your sacrifice had on everyone," She said. "your friends were devastated when they thought you were…"_

 _She couldn't continue, her voice failed her at the last moment. Zane could sense her distress; the familiar flare of the power source inside her was sending signals into the hard drive where he was temporarily housed. As she walked further away from the technologically advanced hub of New Ninjago, and into the wilds of the wider world, she could feel herself getting quite upset._

 _["Pixal…"] Zane looked very concerned._

" _I am sorry, your sacrifice left a mark on us all." Pixal sniffled._

* * *

As Mr Borg's assistant, it was her job to be polite, helpful and accommodating, and in doing so she was no stranger to developing a rapport with people. The affinity she had with Zane was almost instantaneous, and beyond anything she ever had with the employees or visitors at Borg Industries. She couldn't deny that being a droid was what drew her to him in first place, but they seemed to have an immediate connection from the second that they met.

["Pixal, I am detecting a mid-size aircraft approaching our location."] Zane stated.

Pixal opened her chest cavity once more, only to see the S.O.S button flashing wildly.

"I appear to have accidentally pressed my built-in emergency button," She admitted, closing it over again. "it must have happened when I fell over."

["Well, at least it means we have a ride back to New Ninjago,"] He pointed out ["I was concerned about you walking back after dark and would have suggested staying here for the night."]

"I hope I have not caused Mr Borg undue distress." She said worriedly as she made her way back up the spiral stairs.

A few minutes later, a bright light shone in through the open door and the sound of whirring propeller blades hovered overhead. She stepped out and closed the carved door behind her, turning to see a helicopter parked about 10 feet away from the tree she came out of. The side door slid open with a heavy thud, and out came two of Cyrus' personal security guards; a pair of tall, black-suited, well-built gentlemen with a look of steely concern on their faces. One of them stood scouting the area while the other offered his hand to her.

"Miss Borg, if you will come with us please." The man spoke in a deep, rigid voice.

Startled by his choice of words, Pixal accepted his hand and he escorted her onto the helicopter. The other man soon joined them and slid the door shut, making sure everyone was secured in their seat before giving the pilot the okay to take off. The chopper surged into the air and headed in the direction of New Ninjago City. Pixal had been in helicopters before, so she was quite familiar with this method of transport. She was not, however, familiar with the formal way she had been addressed; no one had ever referred to her as 'Miss Borg' before, at least not to her face. She certainly didn't object to it – if anything it confirmed how much Mr Borg valued her – but it also made her more aware that the pressing of the S.O.S button was not something to be taken lightly.

["I am glad that he takes your safety so seriously,"] Zane said.

"I can only assume that after what happened to you during the final battle with the Overlord, he became more highly aware of the finite existence of a droid." Pixal whispered, trying not to draw the attention of the security personnel.

["How long have you been working for him again?"] He asked.

"I have been in service for over three years now," She quietly replied. "even when Mr Borg was just starting up his company he always found time to make sure I was maintained."

["It must be something special about you, Pixal,"] He said. ["I was enamoured of you from the very first instant we met, it is no surprise to me that you are held in such high regard by your employer."]

"Did you find what you were looking for, Miss Borg?" asked the security officer sitting opposite.

Pixal looked up at him, still slightly startled by the way he addressed her.

"Yes, I did, thank you," She answered. "I did not mean to press the S.O.S button, and I hope Mr Borg is not too worried."

"He was more relieved that you were only about 20 miles away." He responded, trying to alleviate the young droid's concerns.

"I was the one who tracked your route on Mr Borg's behalf," The other officer spoke up. "it was a long way to come on your own, I wondered why you didn't use this bird to fly there; it would've been much easier."

"Benson, do not question the young lady's decision – this was clearly very important to her," the first officer snapped. "haven't you ever gone on a pilgrimage before?"

"Of course I have!" Benson snapped back. "I'm a very spiritual person, but if I had a 20-mile journey to make and _my_ dad had access to a helicopter, I'd be asking to use it."

"Mr Borg had offered me transport, but Mr…" Pixal took a quick look at the officer's name badge. "…Hedges is correct, this journey was vital to me, and doing it myself was equally important."

"If you don't mind me asking, why do you refer to your father so formally?" Hedges wondered.

"I… I am his personal assistant, part of my programming is to address people formally."

"Judging by his reaction to your S.O.S, he definitely sees you as more than an assistant…" Benson added.

" _Benson_!" Hedges hissed.

"What? You saw how he was when I told him the S.O.S signal was going off… "My little girl is in danger! Quickly, get the Sikorsky!"." Benson imitated, referring to the helicopter they were sitting in.

Hedges slapped his hand to his forehead. He knew Benson was having some problems at home, but that did not excuse his frequent slackness when they were out on important assignments like this. The two of them went way back, having met in high school and been bro's ever since, but it was only because of Hedges' father having some influence that they even got this job. Hedges decided they would have to have a serious man-to-man talk when the helicopter landed. Fortunately, they were now flying over the city limits and toward the Borg Industries tower.


	4. Back to Borg Industries

As they came in to land on the helipad, they saw that Mr Borg was waiting for them. Pixal looked out the window and waved to him; a big, relieved smile swept across his face. The pilot gently settled the helicopter down and turned off the engine. He then gave a thumbs up to Hedges. Hedges took off his seatbelt and slid the door open, assisting Pixal in getting out safely. Benson was about to leave the helicopter also, but Hedges stopped him, and shot him a disapproving look.

Meanwhile, as Pixal stepped out, Mr Borg wheeled over to her.

"I cannot tell you how thankful I am that you are back!" He said throwing his arms in the air.

"My apologies Mr Borg," She bowed. "I accidentally pressed the S.O.S button when I fell over."

"Think no more of it, my dear, I'm just so happy that you are home safe and sound," He insisted, suddenly noticing the glowing purple lines on her body. "I say, what happened here?"

"Well… it's a long story…" She mentioned.

"Come, we'll go to my office and you can tell me all about it," He said, smiling at her. "I'm very interested to hear about your trip – from the look of the route we tracked you making, you went on quite the adventure!"

Pixal walked alongside him as they made their way to the elevator. He pushed a button and the doors opened. Mr Borg gestured for her to enter first, smiling as he did so. She bowed and walked in, holding the door for him. The doors closed, the elevator went down a couple of floors and opened into his office. Mr Borg once more allowed her to go first, happily following her into the office. He energetically went behind his desk and turned to smile at her, only to see her looking rather anxious. Then he remembered that she went on that journey to pay her respects to Zane. His face fell slightly.

"I'm so sorry my dear, for a moment there I forgot the purpose of your trip," He admitted, feeling a little embarrassed to have been so jovial. "please, sit down."

"Mr Borg," Pixal began as she sat down opposite him. "I was not completely honest with you about the reason I wanted to go."

He raised an eyebrow, slightly confused.

"I went to get Zane's blueprints…" She confessed. Cyrus shook his head and sighed.

"Pixal…" He interrupted. "I really am sorry for your loss, but this is not the right way to grieve."

"But Zane is not gone," She insisted, tapping on her chest with her hand. "he is here, with me."

"Of course," He said, looking slightly relieved. "you are right, Zane is still with us as long as we remember him."

"You misunderstand me sir," She sighed. "I mean I literally have him here."

Pixal opened her chest cavity and pulled out the blueprints, then the second power source. Her circuits stopped glowing and she reached for the hard drive containing Zane's subconscious. She stopped and looked at Zane on her internal vision, he was worriedly shaking his head.

["Please, Pixal, do not tell him – we cannot risk word getting back to my team until my body is rebuilt."] Zane pleaded.

"Zane, we can trust Mr Borg," She whispered. "and we need his permission to rebuild you here."

Cyrus Borg looked at her curiously, as it appeared that she was talking to herself. She nervously grinned.

["Okay, but if it is all the same to you, I would prefer to stay here in the meantime."] He conceded.

"That is fine by me." She smiled widely, feeling reassured that she could keep him somewhere safe.

She got up from her seat and kneeled beside Mr Borg, who still had no idea what was going on. Retrieving a cable from the back of her neck, she plugged it into the laptop on his desk. To his amazement, Pixal's interior vision was displayed on the screen and there was Zane, waving at him.

" _Hello Mr Borg."_ Zane beamed.

"Zane!" He exclaimed. "But… but… how? The fight… the explosion… we all saw it!"

" _I redirected my digital subconscious just before the explosion,"_ Zane told him. _"it took a few days, but I managed to get into an access point – I had to find Pixal, and I needed to reach her as soon as possible."_

Cyrus noted the expression on Pixal's face slowly turn coy, and a kittenish grin appeared as Zane spoke of her.

"Ooh… so, _this_ is why my Pixal suddenly perked up." Cyrus stated, highly impressed with Zane's ingenuity.

" _Uh, I suppose so, yes,"_ Zane replied as he sheepishly rubbed his arm. _"she bravely put herself on the line for me, she insisted on helping me find my blueprints and she also found a spare power source."_

"Yes, she is a marvellous young lady," Cyrus agreed, proudly patting her on the shoulder. "so, I take it you would like to rebuild your body."

" _I know it is a lot to ask…"_

"Nonsense, it's the least I can do for the hero of New Ninjago! I will clear one of the manufacturing floors, so you can work privately," He said. "the machinery is at your disposal, as well as any materials or other resources you may need."

" _Thank you very much, Mr Borg,"_ Zane bowed. _"however, I must ask yet another favour."_

"Hmm?"

" _This must be kept a secret,"_ Zane appealed to him. " _you must deny having seen Pixal."_

"Why Pixal?" Cyrus wondered.

" _If anyone on the outside found out she was holed up on one of the manufacturing floors working on a secret project, it might arouse suspicion,"_ Zane insisted. _"if my team should get wind of it, then it will only be a matter of time before they figure it out – it is critical that no one knows I am still alive until I have rebuilt myself."_

"Consider it done – if anyone asks I shall say I haven't seen her since before the memorial service," Cyrus smiled. "and I'll inform my employees that we are now on the highest tier of company confidentiality."

" _Thank you."_

Pixal removed the cable from the laptop and it retracted into her neck. With the screen now blank, Cyrus turned to her, astounded by her initiative and courage.

"You could have told me from the start, you know?" He mentioned. "I would've understood."

"I did not want to seem demanding, nor did I want to betray Zane's trust," She answered. "he was insistent on keeping his return a secret, but I knew I would have to tell you eventually."

"Well, now we know," He grinned. "it's getting late, and you've had a long day, perhaps you should rest up for tonight and tomorrow you can get started on the rebuild."

"Thank you, Mr Borg." She stood up once more, collecting the power source and blueprints that were still sitting on the desk.

"You're very welcome, my dear."

Pixal bowed politely and walked away, getting into the elevator with a great sense of relief.

She stretched out her right hand, and a key protruded out from her palm. She put the key into the button panel and turned her hand to the left. A previously unlit button suddenly flashed green and she pressed it with her other hand. The elevator closed, and it travelled smoothly down several floors before stopping about hallway down the building. When she removed the key from the panel, the door opened. She stepped out, the door slowly closed behind her and seemed to go back up to the floor where they'd gotten on.

["Is this your room?"] Zane asked, trying to take in the rather extravagant surroundings.

"Yes, once the tower was completed, Mr Borg presented it to me as a gift." Pixal replied while she walked over to a pile of large, plush cushions and sat down on them.

He glanced around at the cavalcade of purple, plush surroundings, the deep maroon painted walls, and the soft, warm lighting that made the whole room just seem so cosy and comfortable. Admittedly, it did not look like the room of a personal assistant – it looked more like the boudoir of a young heiress or debutante.

"I used to come here at night to recharge… well, back when I had to recharge anyway." She smiled, remembering the day she woke up to find that Zane had given her half of his heart.

["I suppose being a successful CEO enables him to be charitable."] Zane noted.

"Oh yes, he shows gratitude to all the people who work here," She nodded. "he frequently hosts company-wide parties and always rewards outstanding employees."

["Now it makes sense."] He said plainly.

"What does?" She asked.

["You're the most outstanding employee he has, no wonder he gave you this private room."]

She lightly chuckled, grinning to herself contentedly and toying with the power source in her hand, glancing over the blueprints as she did so. She couldn't help but think about how different her attitude was this morning compared to now. It had been a very long day and a rollercoaster of emotions; great alleviation in knowing that Zane was still alive, nervousness for the long journey, but also guilt from keeping such good news a secret from his friends.

["Pixal, you have gone quiet, are you alright?"] Zane wondered.

"I'm just thinking about how sad I was this morning – my heart felt like it had shattered," She admitted, leaning back onto the cushions and hugging his blueprints close to her chest. "I was starting to feel like part of me had died with you."

Zane's face fell, and a sudden sombre feeling dawned on him. There was never any question that taking out the Overlord was the right thing to do and sacrificing himself was the only way to do it. Of course, he understood loss and how hard it is for those left behind – he had lost his father after all; twice – but he clearly underestimated the emotional devastation he would leave in his wake.

["It was the only option and I had to do it,"] Zane reasoned. ["for my friends, for all of Ninjago… for you…"]

"Oh Zane…" She squeaked as she began to cry.

["Please do not get upset, everything is okay now; we have the blueprints and a power source,"] He reminded her, panicking slightly. ["we will rebuild my body, reunite with my team and everything will go back to normal – I promise."]

She seemed to be comforted by that promise, as her distressed sobbing slowly dissolved into reassured sniffling.

"My apologies," She said, rubbing her eyes tiredly. "the memories are still fresh, and my emotions must have gotten the better of me."

["Well, you have had a long day, perhaps now would be a good time for you to go into sleep mode."] He suggested.

"My sleep mode has not been functioning as a result of what happened last week," Pixal admitted. "I will do a system check to see if it is working now."

He smiled sincerely at her. She trusted his judgement, and he was right about it being a long day. Pixal secreted the blueprints and power source into her chest cavity for safekeeping, rolling off the pile of cushions and walking toward the large round bed in the corner. She sat on the edge of the bed and fell back onto the plush cotton bed covers. When she was first gifted this room, she was intrigued to discover that the bed base was in fact a wireless charger. The first time she sat on it was something of a shock, as it glowed purple and her internal battery began charging without the use of a connector wire. Now that she had a more permanent energy source, the bed had lost its dual purpose and simply became a safe, comfortable place to rest.

Pixal reached under the pillow and pulled out something white and silver, which she held close to her. This peaked Zane's curiosity as whatever it was looked very familiar to him.

["What is that?"] He asked.

She looked down at the fabric in her hands and suddenly felt a little self-conscious.

"It is one of your spare uniforms," She confessed. "Nya brought it to me the day after… well, you know… she thought it would help to comfort me."

["And did it?"] He wondered.

"Yes, especially with my sleep mode being out of operation," She said, holding the uniform closer. "even though it reminded me that you were gone, it also reminded me that I had you in my life – if only for a short time."

Suddenly there was a loud ping sound. The system check was complete and, not altogether surprisingly, her sleep mode was once again fully operational. It was expected, seeing as the trauma she sustained had been soothed with Zane's return, though she wondered if there would be unexpected consequences; droids typically do not dream, but these were not typical circumstances. As she felt herself drifting into electrical hibernation, the last thing she saw was the image of Zane waving at her, and she couldn't help but smile.


	5. Rebuild Commenced

"Thank you both for working overtime yesterday," Mr Borg said to the security officers accompanying him. "I must say how much I appreciate the speed with which you rescued my dear Pixal."

"All part of the job sir." Hedges replied.

"It was a pleasure," Benson agreed. "She's a lovely girl."

"That'll do, Benson." Hedges said, giving him a funny look.

"It's not in your usual duties I know, but it is vital to maintain top level security on this particular floor," Cyrus mentioned. "I know I can trust you."

"It's highly unusual to seal off a manufacturing room," Benson noted. "may we ask why all the secrecy?"

Hedges pinched the back of Benson's neck and gave him another disapproving stare.

"Just a private project of Pixal's, but I can't stress how important it is to keep this confidential." Mr Borg insisted.

"Yes sir!" They answered in unison.

"Well, carry on gentlemen!" He said cheerfully as he went about his day.

Hedges turned to Benson and glared at him sternly.

"Did you even listen to a word I said yesterday? After all that Overlord stuff we can't afford to be lax about in-house security," Hedges reminded him. "I'll guard the main entrance, you man this elevator and make sure no one stops on this floor."

"What about the other elevator?"

"It's been fixed, but only Mr Borg has access to it for the time being." Hedges explained.

"Okay, you go take up your post and I'll call you if there's any trouble." Benson replied.

"Listen, I know about your extenuating circumstances, but if you slip up on this one I'll see to it that you get relegated to the parking lot!" Hedges grunted angrily.

"Hey, I know you're serious, no need to threaten me over it." Benson stated.

"You're in the big leagues now, you've got to start taking this seriously," Hedges responded. "and you aren't the only one with problems."

With that, Hedges turned on his heel and brusquely walked away.

"Jeez, that guy is such a tyrant sometimes." Benson mumbled to himself once his partner was out of earshot.

He strolled over to the elevator just as it arrived on this floor. Benson steeled himself and prepared to redirect whoever was in it, only to find that it was Pixal herself, arriving to start her secret project. He gave her a warm, friendly smile and bowed politely.

"Ah, Miss Borg, good morning!" He said as he stepped to one side.

"Good morning, Mr Benson," She smiled, walking out of the elevator and onto the factory floor. "I did not expect to see you here."

"Your fath- uh, Mr Borg requested that Hedges and me, make sure this floor remains guarded," He explained. "Hedges is keeping watch outside the main doors and I'm going to stay in the elevator and make sure no one comes here while you're working."

"I appreciate your assistance." She bowed.

"Here, take this," He handed her a walkie talkie. "you can use it to contact me or Hedges anytime, should you require our help, or if there's a sudden emergency."

"Thank you." She smiled warmly at him.

He smiled back, then quickly stepped into the elevator and gently waved as the doors closed.

["Was that one of the officers who was in the helicopter last night?"] Zane asked.

"Yes," Pixal replied. "they must be one of Mr Borg's top teams if he trusted them to guard us."

["They must also be new, given that you did not recognise either of them yesterday."] He remarked.

"They were hired shortly before you and your friends came for the field trip – yesterday was the first time I had extended interactions with them," She answered. "as I understand it, Mr Hedges' father is a close, highly regarded friend of Mr Borg."

Pixal, eager to get started on the rebuild, pulled out the blueprint from her chest and set it on a nearby drafting table. She had been looking at them on-and-off yesterday, and although she was confident that the build would go well, she was slightly concerned; the blueprints – being an older draft – contained a number of outdated technologies. She feared that replacing any of the older connections with a modern equivalent would affect Zane's ice powers, maybe even his ability to use Spinjitzu.

"Zane, I do not wish to worry you, but I'm very worried about my capability to rebuild your body." She stated.

["I'm not worried, you have fixed me in the past, it should be no trouble for you."] He replied confidently.

"Thank you, but logistically I have some serious concerns," She nervously looked over the more intricate connections. "some of this technology is no longer used in general manufacture, and while I can easily find modern substitutes, I fear it will disrupt your elemental and ninja skills."

["Yes, I see what you mean..."] He agreed. ["Well, if we can obtain the older parts we need, we could always just replicate the older circuitry, and build the body itself from new materials."]

Pixal paused to think. She went onto the computer and began typing furiously. She glanced at the elements listed on the blueprints many notes and relayed them into the search function. Zane watched her select a number of folders and opened them in subsequent, smaller file windows. He wondered what she was trying to find as she proceeded to access the Borg Industries intranet and compiled a list of everything they needed… and where they could get it.

A wide smile appeared on her face.

"I have good news," She beamed. "this floor has a vast inventory on hand, and according to the most recent manifest, it is backdated enough to safely reconstruct your circuitry."

Zane once again found himself impressed by Pixal and her consistent thoroughness and attention to detail. He hadn't even considered the complicated nature of the inner workings that went into his old body.

"We will still need to make some base substitutions for your internal restorations, but they will not interfere with your ability to fight," She said confidently. "and we have a wide variety of options for the outer shell; tungsten, steel, chromium... I favour titanium myself."

["Hmm... 'Titanium Ninja'... I like it."] He grinned.

"I was hoping you would, titanium is a fascinating metal – heat resistant, lightweight, corrosion proof," She explained. "there have been developments for a titanium alloy that is lighter and more heat resistant than solid titanium, it would be advantageous for all the travelling and fighting that you do."

["You certainly know a lot about metallurgy, I don't even know what my old body was made of."]

"Based on personal experience, I'd say it was carbon steel, with your muscular structure consisting of nitinol," She casually mentioned. "and I have always been interested in metallurgy and gemmology, they are quite intriguing subjects."

["Gemmology?"] He queried. ["I did not know Borg Industries was involved in that kind of science."]

"Mr Borg's main focus has always been modern technology, but he has side-lines in geology, metallurgy, gemmology, textile manufacture, not to mention endocrinology, neuroscience and pharmacology." She replied. "everything is designed and manufactured here; computers, prosthesis, kimono, jewellery, medicines – in fact this floor is ordinarily used for public defence projects."

["The blackout must have affected this place more than I realised…"] He muttered.

"I wonder if a Kevlar-titanium weave would work better…" She said, completely changing the subject.

["Pardon?"] Zane asked with confusion.

"I am sorry, I was thinking about the material for your musculature and got side-tracked looking at alternatives to nitinol," She admitted. "Kevlar-titanium weave is equally flexible and a lot stronger, the only problem is that it may add weight."

He couldn't think of anything to say at this point, she was taking the lead in a way he had never seen before – he was quite impressed actually, it was as if she did this sort of thing regularly.

Perhaps she did.

After all, as Mr Borg's assistant, her duties were not obvious on the surface; she could be assisting anywhere in the building on Mr Borg's orders. For all he knew she was in a different department everyday unless Mr Borg needed her for something specific.

"Even then it depends on what type of Kevlar we use, there's K119 which has higher elongation so it's flexible, but KM2 would offer more protection as it's used for armour…" She thoughtfully put her hand on her chin and looked upward, carefully thinking over their options. "well, it is your body, so it is your decision, but since you are a ninja I would recommend K119."

When she received no response, Pixal looked at her inner screen and noticed Zane's infatuated expression. She softly grinned. He clearly appreciated her meticulous approach to this rebuild. She was always a precise individual, but there was a degree of overprotection motivating her as well; this new body of his was going to be her magnum opus – such a shell had never been produced for droid purposes before. Mr Borg also happened to give them the city defences research and development floor, so everything was there and ready to use.

"Operations will proceed quicker if we each work on a separate part," She said, glancing over the prints again. "would you prefer to make the body or the circuitry?"

["I will work on the body – if you plug my hard drive back into the main computer I can operate from within the system,"] He answered. ["the circuits are more complicated, they require an accurate eye and a steady hand – I know you are proficient in this."]

She was warmed by his confidence in her capability. She opened her chest and reached for Zane's hard drive, but hesitated. Was she afraid to remove him from the safe place near her heart? The heart that he himself had given her? Partly, yes.

She gently removed the SATA cable that connected his drive to her system; it was not difficult, there was no static shock nor any resistance from the cables, but holding the drive in her hand and not seeing his face still caused a degree of pain. She quickly shuffled over to the main computer and pulled off the panel at the side of it. She gently placed the drive by the motherboard and plugged it in.

Quickly she stepped away, looking at the screen nervously. Suddenly Zane appeared, waving at her with a smile. Pixal let out a breath she didn't realise she was holding and waved back.

"Zane, are you okay?" She wondered. "Can you see me?"

 _"Yes, there is a webcam fitted in the monitor."_ He responded.

"Thank goodness, I was worried for a moment." She sighed. "I will upload the blueprints onto the computer, then we can get started."

 _"Great,"_ Zane smiled as Pixal picked up the prints and walked over to the scanner. _"and Pixal, one more thing."_

She turned to see him looking at her with a soft, affectionate expression.

 _"Thank you again…"_ He murmured. _"I could not do it without you."_

* * *

"Jeez, what a day!" Benson said, stretching out his arms.

"It wasn't that bad." Hedges corrected.

"For you maybe, after all you were just stood in one place," Benson noted. "I was the one who was stuck in the elevator all day; up and down, up and down – it was exhausting!"

Hedges rolled his eyes.

"Well, at least we're not doing overtime tonight."

"Thank goodness for that!" Benson rubbed his eyes. "You know, when Johnson came to take over for me in the elevator I could've cried."

"This project of Miss Borg's must be quite important for Mr Borg to request overnight guards as well," Hedges adjusted his wristwatch and glanced back to the guard who had taken over from him.

"It could just be a ploy to make her feel better, maybe he gave her a difficult assignment to distract herself with," Benson theorised. "she hasn't been right since that ninja sacrificed himself to destroy the Overlord, the poor girl probably had a crush on him."

"The way Mr Borg told it, she was in love with him," Hedges whispered. "and it seemed as though he felt the same, they were getting close and then… well… you know."

"It's really quite tragic," Benson spoke sadly. "I mean, she finally finds someone just like herself, he reciprocates her feelings and then he gives up his life to save the city."

"I dare say it's affecting her quite badly, I overheard her talking to him and he was talking back," Hedges confessed. "it must have been some recordings she made when he was still around."

"You don't think she's… _malfunctioning…_ do you?" Benson wondered.

"What? No way! Miss Borg is a state of the art piece of machinery, with the most advanced AI known to man."

"I don't know…" Benson shook his head. "heartbreak does funny things to people, and if her AI is advanced as you say it is, there's every chance that her robotic heart is as broken as yours after that Brandy woman dumped you."

Hedges gave Benson a dubious look as they headed toward the back exit of the Borg Industries tower. Yes, he was pretty beat up after that relationship ended, but is was him that had done the dumping, not her. She was a wonderful woman, but not the sort he could settle down with, she was too wild and their respective life directions were just too different for their relationship to work long term.

But still, it was very strange for Mr Borg to have any night guards on specific floors. The only time he had overnight officers for added protection was when the Overlord was causing problems – everything was powered down, even the back-up generator for the CCTV, so extra guards were a necessity.

Hedges was marginally suspicious, especially after that company-wide memo stating that all personnel were to deny having seen Pixal since the day of the memorial service.

What if the voices he heard were not recordings, what if something else was going on…

"Fancy going out for a quick drink?" Benson asked.

"Sure, in fact, let's go to Mr Chen's noodle bar," Hedges countered. "then we can get something to eat as well."


	6. Continued Construction

Hello reader, I hope you are enjoying the story! Ffrom this chapter onwards, I will start putting in definitions for any Japanese words used, to aid your understanding of what's going on. Enjoy!

Hakama - wide leg, pleated trousers worn by samurai and ninja alike; still worn today by Japanese people for formal events and by Westerners for cosplay and general appreciation.

Genbu - an ancient Chinese deity associated with the season of winter, control of the north and worshipped as the god of the moon. I thought this was quite poignant considering Zane's powers.

* * *

It was getting quite late, most of the employees had gone home, and only the security staff were still in the building. Mr Borg made his way to the floor where Pixal was working on Zane's new body. He got into the elevator and was greeted by Mr Johnson of the security personnel.

"Good evening Sir," Johnson smiled. "which floor?"

"City defences, R&D please." He replied.

Johnson pressed the corresponding button and patiently waited while the elevator closed and took them up the building.

"I am so sorry for Miss Borg's loss." Johnson mentioned quietly.

"Oh, thank you," Mr Borg replied sadly. "yes, my dear Pixal has not been herself since it all happened."

"I heard she went on a pilgrimage to his birthplace, to pay her respects."

"Yes indeed, I was very glad too, she had spent far too much time dwelling in the console room," Mr Borg explained. "you know she walked for miles – through the Sea of Sand, she went up a great mountain, then through a blizzard in the Glacier Barrens; would you believe she ended up in Birchwood Forest?"

"That's a good 20 miles away!" Johnson surmised. "He must have meant a lot to her."

"Yes… I wish I could do more to help," Cyrus sighed. "still, at least she's out of the console room."

"Forgive me, but would it be beyond my station to ask what she's working on?" Johnson tentatively wondered.

"I wish I knew myself," Mr Borg lied. "but I am grateful that she's keeping busy instead of moping."

The elevator came to a stop and the doors opened. Mr Borg exited onto the floor where Pixal was doing her rebuild, and waved goodbye to Johnson as the doors closed behind him. He approached the main computer panel and soon noticed that Pixal was sat, leaning against it, currently in sleep mode. Suddenly Zane's face appeared on the computer's main monitor. Mr Borg smiled and waved, and Zane waved back.

"Hello, Zane, how is everything coming along?" He asked.

" _Very well, thank you, I have been making the body and Pixal has been working on the circuits,"_ Zane responded. " _she has completed the motherboard and the artificial nervous system, she has even attached the circuits, eyes and integrated peripherals to the skull."_

"Pixal has always had a timely working speed, but she tends to work faster when she's especially interested in what she's doing." Cyrus grinned.

" _I cannot help but feel slow in comparison, you would think that the body would be the easiest part, being an exoskeleton,"_ Zane admitted, rubbing his neck. _"but I have never worked with Kevlar-titanium weave before – I didn't even know it existed until Pixal told me about it – and it was harder to work with than I first thought; as such, I have only gotten so far."_

Zane pointed to his right. Cyrus moved past the assembly line to see that beside Pixal, was a plain outer shell and the aforementioned skull. The upper torso and arms were complete, but the lower torso and legs were still being manufactured as they spoke.

" _I am trying to have the entire body finished by the morning,"_ He mentioned. _"well, minus the head anyway – I would like Pixal's opinion on that before I make it."_

"You could take a break you know," Cyrus noted, seeing the assembly arms still up and running. "I'm sure she'd love to see your progress so far."

" _With respect Sir, there are parts of my body which I do not wish her to see yet…"_ Zane said, suddenly looking away, slightly embarrassed.

"Oh? Oh… OH… Yes, I see, my apologies," Cyrus chuckled as he tapped on the shoulder of the half-finished body. "ah, titanium, good choice – we were going to use titanium to build your memorial…"

" _Wow, really?"_ Zane queried. _"I… I did not realise there was a memorial for me."_

"Yes, I imagine Pixal didn't take you to see it; too painful you understand." Cyrus mentioned.

" _It would have been a bit of a shock for me too."_ Zane added.

"She was utterly destroyed by what happened you know," He said, looking at his esteemed assistant who was still in sleep mode. "I didn't think she'd ever break out of that depressed slump she was in… I blame myself for giving her such an advanced AI, I should've known that the ability to feel would backfire eventually."

" _Yes… I cannot tell you how guilty I feel for causing her so much pain,"_ Zane declared, looking down at her with a sad face. The longer he looked at her though, the more his expression softened into one of fondness. _"I have never known anyone like her before, all I want is for her to be as happy as she has made me."_

Cyrus beamed a big sentimental grin.

"You know Zane, Pixal once said to me that, because I created her – gave her life – she felt that she belonged to me. But you saved her life, you made her feel free, and she felt a deep connection to you," He said. "I told her, quite rightly, that she belonged to no one, and that if she wanted to be with you, then that's where she should be."

" _I too noticed a strong connection the first time we met; there was an instant, undeniable attraction,"_ Zane admitted. _"I felt both helpless and invincible all in the same moment."_

"Somehow, I don't think she'll be very happy in this tower once you're back on your feet and leave to be with the other ninja," Cyrus spoke sadly. "therefore, if she wishes to leave and be with you, then you have my blessing – I shall sleep easy knowing I have entrusted her to someone who loves her so much."

A moment of emotional silence passed between them.

" _Could I ask a favour of you Mr Borg?"_ Zane wondered. _"In Pixal's room is a spare uniform of mine; would you bring it here at some point before she wakes up?"_

"Yes of course, presumably for modesty purposes?"

Zane nodded, still looking mildly embarrassed.

"Consider it done." He said with a smile.

* * *

Pixal opened her eyes and almost couldn't believe what she was seeing.

Zane's new body was almost complete, though without the circuits she had been building it was just an empty shell, slumped over and headless. This was not surprising to her. What was surprising, was that this beheaded, hollow body was suddenly wearing a white hakama and not just any hakama – it was Zane's, part of the uniform she kept under her pillow.

She stood up and saw Zane on the computer screen, busying himself with designing his own head.

"You got a lot done while I was hibernating." She said, drawing his attention.

" _Pixal,"_ He smiled. _"I hope you had a good rest."_

"Yes, thank you," She replied. "I do not normally need to go into sleep mode so frequently, but the past week has been… difficult to say the least."

" _I could not help but continue working,"_ He admitted. _"it seemed vital to get this body up and running as soon as possible."_

"I am sorry if I put undue pressure on you," She realised, bowing apologetically. "but I know your friends are grieving, and it was agonising for me – if I could have found out you were still alive even one second sooner, it would have eased my pain."

" _No, you are right, the sooner I can reunite with my team, the sooner everyone's grief will be lessened,"_ Zane agreed, before turning his attention to the head schematics once more. _"well, what do you think?"_

Pixal looked up at the screen.

Zane had redesigned his head to be almost exactly like the original… _almost_. It had the same genial smile and startling blue eyes, the same handsome face, the same hair… oh wait, no, there was definitely something different about the hair. It was the same silvery white colour, sure, and it was the same flat-top style she was familiar with, except the short-back-and-sides was now long and silky, and tied into a lithe, low ponytail.

" _Is it too much?"_ He wondered, knowing that she had yet to make comment on this design change. _"I have often wondered what my hair would look like at this length."_

To say that she was unfazed by this design change would be untrue; her power source pulsed and the purple circuit lines on her face were glowing. She had to admit that this small design change was very flattering on him, even if it was not particularly functional for ninja purposes. Ultimately, that's what had to be considered – once Zane was in his new body, he would re-join the other ninja, and he would need to be able to fight. He looked amazing with long hair, but was it practical for the life of an active fighter?

"Long hair is very becoming on you," She stammered out, her cheeks still flush with admiration. "I for one would love to see you with this style,"

" _Thank you, I quite like it myself,"_ Zane said as he looked over the design. _"but I do not think it is appropriate for fighting, and I would not resemble the memorial statue anymore."_

"Perhaps for now you could keep your hair short, we can always make an attachment piece later," Pixal suggested. "for your days off or for special occasions or-"

" _Or dates?"_ He asked with a sincere grin on his face.

"Yes, that too," She giggled. "you have gotten so much work done on the exoskeleton, I can start attaching the circuits now."

She picked up the motherboard she had completed the day before and approached the half-dressed body. The chest cavity was already open, so she propped the body against the static conveyor belt. A soldering iron protracted from her right forearm. As she held the motherboard in place with her left hand, she soldered the two top corners to pin it to the interior. She moved her hand out of the way and soldered the bottom two corners to secure it properly.

She sat back for a moment and looked at the open slot where his power source was eventually going to go. More than once she had asked herself if this was really happening, if he really had come back or if in her intense grief, she'd fallen into malfunction and was imagining it all. She briefly touched the currently empty space in the motherboard and then put her hand on her chest. No, it must be real – the half of his heart that was inside her did not feel as heavy as it did when she first thought he was dead. As she glanced over to the monitor to watch Zane control the manufacturing arms, she felt the familiar surge of happiness inside her.

Shaking herself out of the deep thought train she was currently riding, she looked at the printed circuit board and sighed. Now came the part she was most worried about – securing the artificial nervous system. Building it was easy, if a bit old-fashioned, as the original draft used a number of small fuse boxes in key places; such was the result of Dr Julien only having spare parts to work with when he originally built Zane.

Pixal had already mapped the nervous system to get the optimum position for every electrode, but there were hundreds of them, and attaching the multitude of electrodes to the different parts of the body was going to take some time. Fortunately, Zane had put access panels into the forearms and shins, that alone was going to make the task so much easier, but she was still massively concerned; one wrong move and she could make his body inoperable for the main purpose of rebuilding it. She took a deep breath and just went for it.

Zane, meanwhile, was waiting for the outer head construction to be finished. He looked over at Pixal and smiled. Despite how well things that turned out, there had been some apprehension as to whether he should've come to her in the first place – only recently the other ninja had previously discussed the unpredictable reactions of women to various situations – she could've become very angry at him for suddenly reappearing a week after he 'died' in the battle with the Overlord. But after going over every variable, every possible scenario, every probable outcome, it all pointed to a positive result.

Frankly, even if there was only a one in a million chance of her being happy to see him, he still would have come to her – he would not have been able to stay away, he _needed_ to see her again.

As he watched her lift the pant legs of the hakama to open the shin panels, it was as if a breath hitched in this throat. Thank goodness he had the foresight to do the more _intimate_ wiring himself last night. It wasn't easy either; the manufacturing arms he was controlling had to be internally recalibrated to allow for more refined and accurate use. Add testing time to the actual recalibrations and it was easily the most time-consuming part of the whole project.

He sighed. He was going to great lengths to maintain his modesty, and he wasn't even sure why – Pixal would treat it as a simple fact of him having a humanoid body, but Zane was more aware of the sociobiological constructs of what it _meant_ to have a humanoid body, and the embarrassment of someone you like seeing such a private part of it...

"Zane?"

" _Yes, Pixal?"_

"It is ready." She said, gesturing to the completed head on the conveyor belt.

" _Oh, yes, thank you."_ He replied.

Pixal walked over to the completed head. She picked it up and took it to the work space where she had been building the motherboard. It was quite an ominous thing seeing Zane's lifeless face in her hands, and with his eyes closed, he appeared to be sleeping. She put the outer head on the desk and upturned the skull she had finished yesterday.

" _Are you installing the neural processor?"_ He wondered.

"Yes, this is the latest development in neural processing technology – the Genbu 680," She explained, reaching into his skull to place it. "it is such an advanced unit that it has not even been announced to the industry."

" _Are we really allowed to use this?"_

"Mr Borg gave me express permission to use it, if we so desired," She mentioned, pinning the unit to the occipital part of his skull and connecting it to the other circuits with solder. "and this is one area where I feel confident using a modern equivalent in your new body."

She put the skull the right way up, then moved the head onto its side. She ran her hand through his hair. Admittedly she was looking for the correct place to create a slot for the integrated peripherals on the skull, but the monofilament strands were like silk, distracting her with the luxurious feeling it left on her hands. She was surprised that this kind of technology was on this particular floor, she thought it would have belonged in pharmacology or textile manufacture. Eventually she broke free of her distracted thinking and parted his hair lengthways across the crown. She used a miniature horizontal band saw to cut off a thin piece of the titanium under his hair.

" _Ouch…"_ Zane couldn't help but wince at seeing his own head getting cut into.

"Sorry," Pixal said as she finished cutting. "I had to make an incision for the peripheral unit, now you'll be able to put anything into your processor – SD cards, USB devices, even a second neural hard drive."

["Miss Borg, this is Benson, do you read me, over?"]

She picked up the walkie talkie that Benson had given her. Until that moment she'd actually forgotten all about it.

"Yes, I can hear you loud and clear, over." She replied.

["You have a visitor; can I send them up? Over."]

"I am not supposed to have visitors, no one here is meant to have seen me since the memorial service. Over."

["…Oops… My apologies, but I didn't think it applied to this person. Over"]

"May I ask who it is? Over."

["It's Miss Nya, over."]

Pixal and Zane exchanged a worried look.

"Please ask her to wait downstairs, I will come down, over."

["Understood, over and out."]

She put the talkie down and looked at Zane. He had a distinct look of panic on his face.

"I must go and see her – Nya has been visiting me everyday since the Overlord fight, she is the one who brought me your uniform," Pixal asserted. "and since I have been unavailable for two days she will be concerned."

" _Perhaps it would be best if you spoke to her, she might get suspicious otherwise,"_ Zane said. _"she's smart, and we cannot run the risk of her figuring out what is happening."_

"I will be back soon." She promised as she ran over to the elevator and got in.


	7. Distractions

Hello reader. Thank you for your continued support. Here are the glossary words for this chapter:-

Shinobi - basically another word for a ninja.

Shozoku - the official word for the ninja uniform.

Gi - the kimono-like garment that is part of the ninja uniform.

Obi - the sash used to keep the gi in place.

Zukin - the face mask worn by ninja as part of the uniform.

* * *

"Pixal, there you are!" Nya smiled.

"Hello Nya," Pixal waved as she walked over. "thank you for coming to see me."

"I was getting worried," Nya gave the droid a warm, compassionate hug. "you weren't at the memorial service and yesterday they said you weren't here."

"I have been… struggling." She admitted.

"Come on, let's go somewhere and talk."

They walked over to one of the doors marked 'Staff Only'. Pixal put her hand on the scanner and the door opened into what looked like the break room. There was no one else in the room, so after they closed the door behind them, the two sat down at a nearby table.

"I'm sorry I was not at the memorial," Pixal apologised. "I could not bring myself to go."

"Don't worry, we all understand, and none of us is handling it very well," Nya replied. "the other ninja are flip-flopping between being team-spirited and supportive of each other, to being snappy and angry at one another."

"Grief is a deeply personal experience, everyone handles it differently," Pixal stated, her voice cracking slightly. "it must seem strange to you that I am so deep in mourning for someone I knew so briefly."

"I don't think it's strange at all," Nya corrected, taking Pixal's hand in her own. "you might not have known Zane as long as we have, but you had such a deep connection with him."

"Yes, I miss him so much… I wish I could have done more," She sniffled. "I cannot help but feel like I failed him, there were numerous times when my efforts were not enough to prevent what happened."

"You mustn't weigh yourself down with what could've been, as Sensei Wu says, you cannot change the past, only how you affect the future." Nya said in an attempt to soothe the droid's sadness.

"My last words to him were 'I will see you again'." Pixal whimpered.

There was an awkward and painful silence. Realising that she needed to get back upstairs to Zane, Pixal decided it was time to make her excuses.

"Mr Borg has suggested that I go on a sabbatical, to have some time off to heal." She added.

"That's a good idea," Nya agreed. "it's funny you should mention it actually, because Kai was thinking about doing that too."

"I will be leaving in the next day or two, so I must get back to planning," She declared as she stood up. "thank you for coming to see me."

"Of course, I just wanted to check in and make sure you were okay," Nya said with a smile as she also stood up. "a retreat will do you the world of good."

The two of them left the break room and shared a brief hug.

"Make sure you call me when you get back," Nya grinned. "I'll want to hear all about it."

"I will, thank you." Pixal waved at Nya as she walked away and left the building.

She sighed. That was a close one. Mr Benson almost gave the whole game away there.

"Miss Borg, oh, Miss Borg!"

Pixal turned to see the receptionist waving her over.

"I'm glad to have caught you, I was about to have a message sent up to the floor where you're working," the lady said. "the head of textiles just called, he needs you to go upstairs and look over the custom order you put in."

"Thank you for letting me know." She smiled and bowed.

Heading over to the elevator she was met by Benson, who looked thoroughly embarrassed as he held the door open for her. Once in the elevator and on their way up to textiles, Benson turned to her and gave a deep bow.

"Please accept my deepest apologies, Miss Borg, for a moment I forgot where I was – it won't happen again, I swear." He pleaded.

"It was an honest mistake," Pixal held up her hand forgivingly. "think no more of it."

"Thank you," Benson replied, utterly relieved. "Hedges will batter me if he hears about it."

"We will keep it between us." She assured.

The elevator doors opened, and she was greeted by Mr Abakhan, head of textile development. He was an excitable individual, a highly skilled designer and friend of Mr Borg's for many years. With his green eyes slightly hidden behind half-moon glasses, undercut chestnut hair – now slightly greying at the sides – and a petite goatee, he was always smartly dressed and never without his tailor's tape.

"Ah, Miss Borg!" He exclaimed, escorting her off the elevator. "I was most excited to receive your custom order yesterday, I simply had to start on it immediately!"

"Thank you for your expediency." Pixal beamed.

"It was a pleasure! Now, I have enlisted some of my machinists to model the outfits you requested," he grinned widely. "fortunately, we have a few men on this floor who match the build of the person whose measurements you gave me."

"You did not have to go to all that trouble just for me." She insisted.

"No trouble at all," He waved his hand artistically. "but I am surprised by the colour you chose; none of the ninja wear silver as their main colour."

"This is the first design of a new set I wish to gift the ninja as a thank you for their services," Pixal deceptively said. "of course, the final design will be in gold fabric."

"Ah yes, I understand," He turned to the left and raised his hand. "WARWICK, COME HERE!"

One of the machinists came out wearing the shinobi shozoku Pixal had requested. The young man modelling it looked as though he were in his element wearing the ninja uniform, as he strutted over to them he seemed to think he was on an actual catwalk.

"The shozoku is made out of 100 percent 'shine' polyester, in a sterling shade of silver," Mr Abakhan stated. "all eight components of the uniform are accurate, hard-wearing and allow for ease of movement – Warwick, if you please."

On command, Warwick took a running start and rolled into a cartwheel that landed him right next to Pixal.

"Thank you, Warwick," He said with a nod. "as you can see the obi is firm enough to keep the gi in place but allows room for one or two small weapons, and the zukin has the traditional symbol for 'mountain' machine stitched in white embroidery."

Warwick put on the ninja face mask to show off the symbol, which was stitched onto the forehead of the mask.

"I do like the embroidered symbol." Pixal stated. She would've preferred the symbol for ice but that would've been a bit too on-the-mark and might've sparked suspicion.

"STANFORD, YOU'RE UP!" Mr Abakhan bellowed.

Out came another of the machinists, only this one was wearing a 3-piece suit, in a dark grey coloured fabric. He too was enjoying himself with the impromptu modelling as he swaggered past his female co-workers with a big grin on his face.

"This three-piece suit in a charcoal grey colour is 45 percent wool and 55 percent polyester," He explained. "it sits comfortably close to the figure but still has room for a concealed weapon or two – specially designed for the ninja on the go."

"Yes, it is a nice style." She nodded.

"The jacket is fully lined and has a two-button fastening; plenty of room under the arms, should the need for battle suddenly arise, and of course it comes with a dress shirt and a luxury, 100 percent silk tie..." Mr Abakhan paused and turned to Pixal looking slightly confused. "may I ask why a ninja would need a suit?"

"One must be prepared for all eventualities, and you never know when they might need to go undercover or attend a formal event." She answered.

"I agree, so what do you think?"

"I am very pleased, thank you for all your hard work." She politely bowed and then shook Mr Abakhan's hand.

"That'll do gents, back into your own clothes now," He said, waving Warwick and Stanford off. "I'm so glad you're happy with the outfits, I'll get started on the gold versions and have the silver ones dry cleaned and sent up to your work space tonight."

"Thank you."

* * *

Benson and Hedges sat in the break room drinking coffee. Just as the day before, they had been assigned to guard Pixal and her secret project, and just like yesterday, they had been relieved for lunch and coffee breaks by other security personnel.

Hedges was rolling his left shoulder and pulling a pained face. He took off his jacket and tried to see the back of his shoulder blade, with limited success.

"You okay there?" Benson wondered. "Looks like you're in pain."

"Yeah," Hedges replied. "it was self-inflicted though."

Curious, Benson walked round to see what was causing Harry "Hard Man" Hedges so much discomfort. He was rather disturbed to see a strangely coloured ooze staining the crisp white shirt Hedges was wearing.

"Dude, you've got a lot of discharge back there." Benson stated, pulling a grossed-out face.

"Never seen a tattoo healing before?" Hedges snarked. "I got it last week, but because of the size and the darkness of the purple ink, it's still seeping."

"Another one?" Benson questioned, crossing his arms. "You only just got a tattoo a couple months ago, I swear, you're addicted!"

"There are worse things to be addicted to." Hedges remarked.

Benson paused and then nodded in agreement.

"You'll see, if you ever get around to getting your first tattoo."

"I will eventually," Benson sighed. "but there's so much work involved; picking a design that you can live with for the rest of your life, finding the right artist, saving up the money, getting an appointment."

"Don't forget the aftercare, which even if you follow to the letter your tattoo could still get infected…"

"There speaks the voice of experience." Benson grinned.

"Well, a tattoo is basically an open wound full of ink pigment, so even if you get past the seeping part unscathed, there's the scabbing, flaking part which is itchy and annoying," Hedges groaned as he saw the amount of goo on his shirt. "it's no good, I'll have to clean it before I go back on duty – would you give me a hand?"

"Do I have to?" Benson cringed.

"Think of it as first aid training, there's not much difference between cleaning a cut and cleaning a tattoo," Hedges casually mentioned as he put his jacket back on. "besides, if you really want to get one, you need to acquaint yourself with the aftermath of when you leave the studio."

The two of them left the break room and headed into the male staff locker room. Hedges opened his locker to retrieve a small kit bag, before walking over to the sink area. He took off his shirt and placed it on the counter. That was when Benson got a good look at the tattoo on his co-worker's shoulder blade – it was HUGE, easily taking up a quarter of Hedges' back – and to top it all off, it was the Anacondrai symbol.

"This is even weirder than your leg tattoo," Benson declared as he washed his hands. "of all the reptiles you could've immortalised on your skin, why this one?"

"It's my favourite colour, and purple iguanas don't exist," Hedges retorted, washing his hands in one sink while filling the other with warm water.

He leaned over the counter dipping his now clean right hand into the warm water and gently rubbing the loose plasma away. Benson, realising that Hedges couldn't reach parts of the tattoo, also put his hand in the water and deftly copied Hedges.

"It's a good thing we're best friends, otherwise this would be really weird and awkward." Benson joked.

Hedges laughed, getting some antibacterial soap from his kit bag to give to Benson.

"How do you do this at home when there's no one to help you with it?" Benson wondered. He carefully washed the tattoo and then rinsed off the soap with handfuls of warm water.

"My next-door neighbour is a nurse," Hedges explained. "and she's very accommodating."

"Ooh, so that's why Brandy broke up with you eh?" Benson chuckled, raising an eyebrow.

"How many times must I tell you? I broke up with her, not the other way around." Hedges deflected as he gave Benson some paper towels.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Benson patted the tattoo dry and tilted his head. "hey, it looks so much better now."

"Give it a few hours…"

The two men washed their hands one more time. Hedges picked up his dirty shirt and dried his hands on it, then took the shirt and his kit bag and stuffed them both back into his locker. Fortunately, he anticipated the tattoo seeping all over his work shirt, so he brought a spare with him this morning. He took the clean shirt from the hanger and put it on over the now clean, dry tattoo.

"Aren't you supposed to put emollient cream on it?"

"I'm not having you rubbing moisturiser on me while we're at work, what if someone saw?" Hedges said firmly. "There might be talk – I mean, you know how those receptionists like to gossip, imagine if your boyfriend heard about it?"

"No offense dude but you're not my type, besides, Jack knows there's nothing between us, and like you said it's basically the same as first aid." Benson insisted.

"There's no time anyway, break's over," Hedges glanced at his watch. "how is Jack these days?"

"Still on the waiting list for treatment," Benson sighed. "his health insurance covers the cost but we're looking at six months before he'll get an appointment."

"It's a shame you can't go private."

"Yeah, but for an experimental treatment it's more than we can afford," Benson lamented as they left the locker room. "we're lucky that his insurance even covers it."

"It'll all work out, you'll see," Hedges put his hand on Benson's shoulder and attempted to comfort him. "Jack's a tough guy, he's put up one hell of a fight so far."

"Ugh, I'm not looking forward to going back in the elevator." Benson groaned, changing the subject.

"I gotta admit, standing outside those main doors has been quite interesting…" Hedges mentioned with a reflective expression.

"How do you mean?"

Hedges looked around before speaking further. He then grabbed Benson by the arm and dragged him off to a private doorway in the corner. He looked around again to make sure they were alone and out of earshot of other people.

"I'm hearing some suspicious noises on that floor where Miss Borg is working," Hedges whispered. "remember yesterday when I said I could hear that ninja's voice?"

"Yes, you also said they must have been recordings made by Miss Borg or taken from the CCTV." Benson quietly confirmed.

"Well, earlier on when I heard his voice, he mentioned the memorial statue." Hedges stated firmly.

"So?"

"So, how could a recording made before the statue, mention the statue in playback?"

Hedges could see the gears ticking over in Benson's head as his expression went from uncertain to contemplative to sudden realisation.

"You don't think-"

"I don't understand what's going on exactly," Hedges interrupted. "but I suspect that Mr Borg is withholding information."

"He owns the place, he can withhold information if he likes." Benson shrugged.

"It's the principle of the thing!" Hedges said sternly. "He trusts us enough to protect his daughter, but not enough to keep us informed?"

"I thought you said we weren't to use familial terms until Mr Borg tells us to."

Hedges slapped his hand over his eyes.

"The point is, something is going on and he doesn't see fit to tell his top security personnel," Hedges crossed his arms and raised his eyebrows. "it's downright fishy, and I'm not gonna just let it slide."


	8. Completion

When Pixal finally got back to the city defences research and development floor, a few hours had passed. From textile development, she was called to the jewellery department in the gemmology lab. From gemmology she was needed in personnel to select a replacement personal assistant for Mr Borg, and then she had to go back up to her room to retrieve the power source for Zane's body.

"I am sorry I took so long Zane," She apologised as she ran out of the elevator. "I was required in more than one department after meeting with Nya and-"

She stopped in her tracks.

There in front of her, was Zane's body – completely finished. However, given that she had the power source in her hand, it was still slumped against the static conveyor belt. Suddenly the monitor flashed to life and there was Zane's smiling face.

" _Surprise!"_ He said light-heartedly.

"Zane, you… you finished it." She stammered out, walking slowly toward the body.

Pixal stood in awe of what Zane had managed to get done in her absence. He had installed the artificial nervous system, fixed the integrated peripheral ports and connected the outer head to the skull, and secured it to the neck. It was a most surreal experience – she didn't expect to feel quite so speechless. She dashed over to the console where Zane's drive was stored and gently removed it. She excitedly ran back to the body and opened the chest cavity. She softly hooked the hard drive into place and plugged in the SATA cable. Full of enthusiasm, she bounced on the spot a few times, then bit her lip.

Here we go… She thought. Moment of truth…

She placed the power source into the specially designed cradle and stepped back. There was a flash of blue, and to her delight, his eyes slowly blinked open. He started to move inside his new exoskeleton, pulling it up from the slumped over position so he was standing straight. He lifted his arms and looked at his hands as they moved. He took a few steps forward and pulled Pixal into a passionate embrace. Once again, she found herself moved to tears, only these tears were ones of joy. She nuzzled into his arms, contented to never leave this safe, warm place.

"Oh Zane." She breathed.

"It is so good to hold you again." He replied, getting lost in this beautiful moment.

"Is it wrong that I don't want to let go?" Pixal asked as one last tear rolled down her cheek.

"If it is wrong, I do not wish to be right."

Eventually, they did part from one another, with big smiles on their faces.

"So, how does it feel?" She wondered.

"It is very comfortable," He said, hopping side to side. "everything appears to be functioning normally."

"What about your ninja abilities? Your elemental powers?" She nervously asked.

"I won't attempt Spinjitzu in here, but there some things I can try." He answered.

He stretched his arms out to the side. The access panels on both forearms opened simultaneously; from his right arm a shuriken-shaped buzz saw appeared and spun around aggressively, from his left arm a laser cutter reached out to slice a nearby piece of metal in one clean movement. He retracted both devices back into his arms and grinned, proud that both of them worked as intended. Pixal was astonished – she didn't know he'd added in some extra hardware, and she was relieved that it hadn't affected his base ability to function.

He turned his palms down so they faced the floor. Hands outstretched, he summoned a river of ice from thin air. The glacial crystals hit the floor and climbed the walls, until each ice beam came together on the ceiling. He then began to practice the jumps and kicks that were part of his ninja training, shooting out chunks of ice from his feet. She smiled and applauded as he went about testing his new exoskeleton. Zane paused and smiled at her, opting next to test another set of moves; dancing.

Although he had only ever danced solo in the past, he had plenty of time to do a bit of research while waiting for the external shell of his body to be finished, so he took Pixal's hand in his and pulled her toward him. As she stood in front of him, he put his other hand on her waist and confidently grinned at her. She looked nervous, but his bold smile gave her a great sense of solace. He apparently had also installed a speaker in his head, as a soulful mid-tempo song started playing from his general direction.

"I do not know how to dance." She warned him.

"It is easier than you think, just follow me." He said encouragingly, putting her hand on his shoulder.

Her power source flared, and not knowing how to dance herself, she tried to sense his next move. When he smoothly stepped forward with his right foot, she instinctively stepped back with her left. Her eyes were fixed upon his, her body followed his silent instructions as he led her into a circular movement. Once, they had fought back to back, as though their bodies were designed to fight as one. With the chilly atmospherics and dreamy strings of the background music, they seemed to have been designed to dance as one also. Pixal had no idea how to dance, but she followed Zane's motions with astonishing accuracy. They would've carried on dancing together if not for the errant piece of metal which Zane promptly fell backwards on. Naturally, Pixal also fell, landing squarely on top of Zane.

"Sorry about that," Zane apologised. "I was so involved in what we were doing that I forgot to watch where I was going."

"Don't apologise, it was a lot of fun." Pixal admitted, propping herself up.

For a moment, they stayed where they were; with Zane flat on his back and Pixal leaning over him. She beamed at him with an adoring smile. He returned her affectionate gaze and reached up with his right hand to stroke her cheek. She could not resist nuzzling into his palm as he gently touched her face. Lost in their exquisite little bubble, the world around them could have fallen apart and they wouldn't have cared…

["Miss Borg, this is Hedges, do you read me? Over."]

Pixal reluctantly got up and walked over to the computer console where she had left the talkie.

"I can hear you, loud and clear, over." She said.

["Mr Abakhan has just left your order with me; permission to come onto the manufacturing floor? Over."]

She glanced over at Zane. As if reading her thoughts, he quickly got up and hid in the inventory closet, closing the door over enough to hide him, but so he was still able to hear what was being said.

"Permission granted, over." She agreed, walking over to the main doors where Hedges was standing guard.

Hedges walked in and bowed. He took the parcels from under his arm and gave them to her.

"Thank you." She smiled.

"My pleasure," He replied. "so how is your project going?"

"It is… uh." She glanced around and realised that it didn't look as if she had accomplished much.

The blueprints were still on the desk, but apart from a number of metal offcuts strewn about the place and massive amounts of ice decorating the room, she didn't really have a project to speak of.

"I decided to start over," She lied. "I was trying to make a freeze ray, but it was too hard to control, so I have scrapped the original design and have started making a new one."

"Sometimes the best option is rip it up and start again." He said, peering over his sunglasses.

"Yes," she sighed. "I will call it a day and try again another time."

"Very well," He bowed again. "would you like me to acquaint Mr Borg with your wishes?"

"No thank you, I will tell him myself," She insisted. "but you and Benson may leave early if you'd like."

"Thank you, Miss Borg," He politely smiled. "if it's all the same to you, I'll take the elevator down – seeing as Benson is already in it."

"Feel free." She bowed, gesturing toward the elevator.

Pixal watched as Mr Hedges ambled across the factory floor. He appeared to be taking his time, as well as having a cursory glance every now and then. No one knew exactly what her project was, but clearly Mr Hedges was curious, given how much he was glancing around the room. Zane's completion of the rebuild was timely – it would've been much harder to move the exoskeleton if it was not finished.

He pressed the call button and waited for the elevator to come up. The doors opened and inside was Mr Borg, coming to see how Pixal was getting on.

"Good afternoon Mr Borg." Hedges said.

"Good afternoon," Mr Borg replied, looking a little confused. "I thought you were guarding the other doors."

"I gave Mr Hedges permission to finish his shift early." Pixal intervened.

"Does that go for me too, Miss Borg?" Benson asked from inside the elevator.

"Of course." She smiled.

Benson bowed politely as Mr Borg got out of the elevator and Hedges got in.

"Oh, Hedges, please wait for me downstairs," Mr Borg requested. "I need to discuss your shifts for next week as Johnson is going on holiday."

"Yes sir." He replied as he pressed the button for the lobby.

Benson and Hedges shared a brief high five as the doors closed. Mr Borg turned to Pixal with a bewildered expression, glancing around at the mounds of ice on the ground and the dripping icicles hanging from the ceiling.

"I hope all is well with your project." He said tentatively.

"See for yourself," She casually mentioned. "Zane, you can come out now!"

Zane stepped out of the inventory closet and walked over to where Mr Borg and Pixal were standing. Mr Borg was astounded to see him walking among them once more, he was expecting this rebuild to take the better part of a week, it had barely been two days.

"This is just amazing!" He gasped. "You look fantastic."

"Thank you," Zane said, looking at Pixal. "it was a joint effort."

"You did most of it yourself, I just helped." She sheepishly negated.

"You two work very well together," Mr Borg declared, noting that Zane was still wearing nothing but a hakama. "oh, would you like me to fetch the rest of your uniform?"

Before Zane had a chance to respond, Pixal shoved one of the parcels towards him. He took it and gave her a slightly baffled look.

"I might have approached the textile department about manufacturing a prototype silver shozoku," She mentioned. "under the guise of making new uniforms for the other ninja."

"That is very thoughtful of you, I will go and try it on." He tucked the parcel under his arm and headed back to the inventory closet, gently brushing against her as he walked past.

"I hope I did not overstep any boundaries." Pixal bowed apologetically.

"Nonsense," Mr Borg shook his head. "all the departments knew they were on call for whatever you needed."

"Thank you."

"I am most impressed with how quickly the new body came together," He grinned. "you must have worked very hard."

"There were alternate motivations besides the base desire to be upwardly mobile again." She admitted.

"Yes, I can imagine that his teammates will be thrilled to see that he is back," He remarked.

Pixal didn't answer, she was too busy being lost in a haze as Zane re-joined them, now wearing the silver shozoku. She couldn't help but notice how handsome he looked in his new uniform, the textile department had done a fantastic job – it fit him like a dream, as if he had been there for the fittings.

"I don't know how I can ever repay you for allowing me to rebuild my body here." Zane politely bowed.

"It was my pleasure," Mr Borg smiled. "we owe you a great debt for saving the city."

"I gave Mr Benson and Mr Hedges the rest of the day off, maybe we could also relax for the evening." Pixal suggested.

"That's a good idea," Mr Borg agreed, turning to Zane. "of course, this floor is the only available private space we have, if you're okay with staying here."

"This will do nicely, thank you." Zane replied.

"Zane could come and stay in my room." Pixal offered.

"As long as you are alright with this arrangement." Zane added, looking to Mr Borg for approval.

Mr Borg was well aware of the romantic feelings the two droids held for each other, and as such there was some apprehension about them sharing a room; his fatherly affection for Pixal was definitely showing now. But, having known Dr Julien, he was certain that Zane would've been raised to behave like a gentleman. He also knew that as a modern ninja, Zane adhered to the stringent moral code set by Sensei Wu. Besides, it's not like they could get up to anything unsavoury.

"Of course." Mr Borg declared with a warm smile.

"We can leave first thing in the morning, when it's quiet." Pixal asserted.

"But how will Zane leave without attracting attention?" Mr Borg wondered. "Even if there aren't many people about, if he's seen wearing his ninja gear it would draw suspicion."

Without a word, Pixal quietly thrust the other parcel at Zane.

"I might have also procured some street clothes to wear over your uniform." She stated.

"You really have thought of everything." Zane accepted the parcel and put his arm around her.

"My dear assistant has always been very thorough," Mr Borg chuckled. "right, now that's all settled, I'll have Mr Hedges arrange your transport for the morning."


	9. Meeting at the Noodle Bar

Hedges sat in the corner booth at Mr Chen's noodle bar. He'd been spending a fair amount of time here lately, the noodles were good, the beer was cheap and the company – when he had it – always made the evening interesting. Benson had left about five minutes ago, and Hedges was waiting for a different companion. He winced as he could feel his tattoo oozing again; quite poignant really, as he recalled what led him to get it in the first place…

 _ **2 Weeks Earlier…**_

" _It's just not fair," Benson sobbed. "Jack was in remission and now his test results show it's coming back!"_

" _I know, he's already been through a lot," Hedges attempted to comfort his friend. "but he's a fighter, he'll beat it."_

" _He's fought it on and off his whole life, he was doing great, why now?"_

" _There's new treatments for soft tissue sarcoma now you know," Hedges insisted. "just the other day I read about an experimental treatment involving immunotherapy."_

" _Those experimental treatments are so expensive, we'd never be able to afford it." Benson sniffled, having another swig of his drink._

" _You wanna check with Jack's health insurance, they might cover it – the success rate of that treatment was nearly 75 percent," Hedges suggested. "my wife's immunotherapy was covered by the health insurance at my old job."_

" _But Evelyn had something else entirely, and…" Benson paused, looking at Hedges guiltily. "it didn't work…"_

 _Hedges frowned, as a few wayward tears fell from his eyes._

" _No, it didn't… but I was grateful for every extra month I had with her…" Hedges wiped his eyes on his sleeve. "Besides, Evelyn was such a frail woman – even from a young age she caught every illness going – Jack has a much better chance of beating this."_

 _Benson glanced down at the bottle in his hand. Poor Hedges. He had been with Evelyn since high school, he even asked Benson to be his best man at their wedding. Everyone said they were getting married far too young, being sophomores in college. He lost count of all the people who said that they would never last, and those people were the most ashamed when the marriage ended not in divorce, but in 'til death do us part' barely 5 years in._

" _I'll speak to Jack, see what he thinks," Benson promised as he stood up and then promptly fell over._

" _C'mon, you've had one too many, let's get you home eh?" Hedges determined, helping his friend back into his seat and waving to a nearby waiter. "Excuse me, could you call a cab for my friend?"_

" _Yes sir." The waiter smiled and picked up the phone._

" _Thanks Harry," Benson slurred. "I don't know what I'd do without you."_

" _You'd probably try to walk home." Hedges joked as he tried to cheer up his friend._

" _Five miles in this weather?" Benson snorted. "I don't think so."_

" _Yeah you would – you did last time!" Hedged laughed. "You nearly got lost too!"_

" _What if I lose Jack?" Benson mumbled._

" _Now, now, you can't think like that," Hedges put his arm around Benson's shoulder and jostled him a little. "you gotta be strong now, for Jack and for yourself."_

 _Suddenly a suited man came into the restaurant._

" _Cab for table 4?" He yelled._

" _Wow, that was quick – over here mister," Hedges waved at him and assisted Benson in standing up. "come on, Bailey, time to go home."_

" _But I wanna see Jack!" He moaned._

" _Jack is at his mother's, you need to go home and rest – we've got work in the morning."_

" _Okay…" Benson pouted and walked over to the man holding the restaurant door open. "Thank you, driver."_

" _Here's his address," Hedges handed the man a slip of paper and a large denomination note to cover the journey. "my phone number is on there too; would you mind calling me when he's home safe? He won't remember to do it in his condition."_

" _Will do," The taxi driver tipped his hat and helped Benson to his vehicle. "come along, sir."_

 _As the restaurant door closed, Hedges fell back into his seat and let out a huge sigh. He dropped his head down and put his hand over his forehead; he didn't want anyone to go through what he went through with Evelyn, especially not Benson. Poor lad had been through hell already, his family all but abandoned him when he came out, so when he met Jack it was like finding a port in a storm._

" _May I join you?"_

 _Hedges looked up to see a man with slicked back hair and a Vincent Price moustache, standing by the seat left vacant by Benson's departure. The man was clearly advanced in years, as evidenced by the lines on his face and slightly gaunt appearance. Hedges wasn't particularly in the mood to be social, but after the emotional upheaval with Benson, he could use some light banter with one of the locals. Besides which, he was half cut himself and didn't want a confrontation on his hands._

" _Sure, have a seat." Hedges agreed._

" _I couldn't help but overhear your conversation…" the man spoke in a deep drawl._

" _Yeah, sorry about that, even when he's sober, he struggles with volume control." Hedges apologised._

" _We have all drowned our sorrows occasionally," He clapped his hands and a waitress brought over a couple of drinks for them. "here, have one on me."_

" _Thanks buddy," Hedges said, lifting the glass in a toast. "here's to friends we wish we could help."_

" _Indeed." The man also lifted his glass and clinked it with Hedges'._

 _The two men took a sip from their respective glasses and sat quietly for a moment._

" _Forgive me, I haven't even introduced myself," the man said, holding out his hand. "my name is Clouse."_

" _Harry Hedges," He reached out to shake Clouse's hand. "nice to meet you."_

" _Nice to meet you too," Clouse grinned. "a pity I did not get to meet your friend."_

" _Yeah, he's a good guy, he's just going through a lot," Hedges had another mouthful of beer from his glass. "his boyfriend is seriously ill and having lost someone close myself, my heart breaks for him."_

" _I'm sorry to hear that," Clouse sympathised. "it's especially hard when you feel so helpless."_

" _I wish I could afford to pay for that treatment myself… I'd have to do it anonymously of course," Hedges glanced up at the ceiling. "he'd never accept the money, he's too proud."_

" _You're such a good friend," Clouse declared. "it's really very moving."_

" _He'd do the same for me," Hedges confidently stated. "we've been best friends for years."_

" _Does he work for the same company as you?" Clouse enquired._

" _Yeah, how did you guess?"_

" _You both have the Borg Industries logo on your jackets." Clouse pointed to Hedges' jacket and another jacket which Benson left behind._

" _Ah, he left it here," Hedges picked it up and put it in his lap. "I'll give it back to him in the morning."_

" _You know Harry, I have a benefactor that would be most moved by your loyalty to your friend," Clouse began. "I'm sure he would pay for the treatment."_

 _Hedges wondered if he was hearing things. He looked at the sincerity on Clouse's face and then into what was left of his glass of beer. Was he so desperate that he would trust this total stranger?_

" _How I wish that were true," Hedges said sadly. "even if it was, there's nothing I could offer in return, I'm just a security officer."_

" _I am perfectly serious," Clouse asserted. "all you'd have to do is meet with him and plead your case directly, he is a generous man and if he is even half as inspired by your devotion as I am, he will surely agree to help."_

 _Clouse held out his hand, innocently smiling at Hedges. He hesitated for a moment as various thoughts flew around his mind. Was this a trick? Was he so drunk that he was hallucinating all this? It sounded too good to be true, so it must be. But then he thought about Benson, his friend from his youth, the man who stuck by him through everything, the one person who deserved happiness but was currently going through the wars. Hedges decided then and there, that it was worth looking into – even if this was just a trick, it was a risk he was willing to take. He shook Clouse's hand and resolved to let the chips fall where they may..._

* * *

"May I join you?"

Hedges looked to his left, and there was Clouse with an expectant grin on his face.

"Sure, have a seat." Hedges replied.

Clouse took the seat previously occupied by Benson, not 5 minutes earlier, and clapped his hands. A waitress soon appeared with two drinks, she placed them on the table and walked away without a word. Hedges felt slightly deceived – when they first met, Clouse seemed pleasant and unassuming – ever since he entered into a deal with Chen, Clouse always had a sinister edge to his smile.

"You had better have some progress to report, Master Chen is getting impatient," Clouse smugly mentioned. "have you discovered what the droid is up to?"

"Yes, and it's not the weapon I thought it was." Hedges sighed.

"What? You said whatever she was working on was top secret!" Clouse grimaced. "Borg had cleared an entire floor, had guards posted at both entry points, and you're telling me she hasn't built anything?"

"She has, it's just not a weapon," Hedges corrected. "turns out she was just rebuilding that nindroid who died in the Overlord battle."

That got Clouse's attention. He sat up and put his hands on the table.

"What nindroid?"

"You know, the one with the ice powers," Hedges explained, having a big gulp of beer. "runs with that elemental squad led by the green ninja."

"Ice powers… hmm…" Clouse mumbled.

"I thought she was building a tank or a laser cannon or some other kind of weapon," Hedges waved his hand in a circle as his tone of voice turned cold and resentful. "turns out she was just bringing her _boyfriend_ back to life; if only it were that easy for all of us."

"Are you certain it was the ice ninja?"

"On my way out this afternoon, I placed a false front over the button on the elevator," Hedges admitted. "it had a mini camera inside it, here I'll show you some of the shots I got."

Hedges took out his smartphone and opened an app which could connect to the miniature camera. Going into the archived images, he retrieved several photos of Mr Borg, Pixal and Zane all standing around talking. Clouse gasped when he saw the pictures, he almost couldn't believe his eyes.

"Master Chen will be _very_ interested in this development," Clouse smirked. "judging by the ice in the background he obviously still has his powers."

"Yeah, looks like it." Hedges agreed, thoroughly disinterested.

"Deliver this ninja to the docks tomorrow," Clouse demanded. "and we'll double your money."

Hedges spat out a mouthful of beer and looked at Clouse with utter disbelief.

"Why? What's so special about this nindroid?" Hedges wondered out loud.

"Master Chen needs his… _specific_ skill set..." Clouse sneered as a menacing chuckle left his lips.


	10. A Private Moment

"This room is very different when one is physically here." Zane said.

He was laying on the pile of cushions that Pixal had sat on a couple days ago and was taking in her surroundings from a new perspective. Now that he was back in his exoskeleton, the purples looked richer, the deep maroon walls looked brighter, and there was an irresistible perfume wafting around the room; the alluring scent of what he could only describe as cherry sorbet and pink gin. Pixal was sitting on the bed, looking over at him with a reverent smile.

"It is also much less lonely." She beamed.

He sweetly grinned at her. She could feel a familiar pulsing in her chest, the flare of her power source reacting to his adorable smile. He tried to climb out of the soft stack but the only way he could seem to get up was to rock from side to side. Pixal giggled as Zane fought against the plush mountain he was sitting on. Eventually he rolled off and landed face first onto the opulent ruby-coloured carpet.

"Are you hungry?" She asked. "I could get something sent up if you are."

"I am fine, thank you." He replied as he stood up and sat next to her on the bed.

"I'm so happy you came back." She sighed, leaning against him.

"I could not stay away from you." He said, placing his hand on top of hers.

Pixal gently swung her legs back and forth as Zane held her hand. There was a sudden wave of contentedness that swept over her; a far cry from the wave of grief that she'd been previously been drowning in. She distinctly noticed how his body seemed to exude a reassuring warmth. That said, even if he was as cold as his elemental power, she still would've felt some heat, even if was just because of the warming effect he had on her.

"Will you come with me?" He wondered.

"Of course, I will be in the car when they drop you off at the docks tomorrow," She replied. "apparently there will be a boat waiting for you."

"No, I mean, will you come with me?" He clarified. "As in, away from New Ninjago; you know, go with me and the other ninja?"

Pixal swiftly turned to look at him, her eyes wide and full of amazement.

"Of course, I will! I mean, I would love to… but…" She paused, slightly apprehensive. "your sensei may not allow it."

"What makes you think he will say no?"

"I am not a ninja." She stated sadly.

"Oh, I see what you mean," He sighed and thought for a moment before continuing. "well, Nya is not a ninja."

She glanced at him quizzically, what did Nya's status have to do with the question at hand? He turned to face her, propping his leg up on the bed as he held her hand.

"Nya may not be a ninja, but she stays on the bounty with the team because she has her own set of skills," He explained, sensing her confusion. "you too have your own skills, Wu has seen what you can do in the run up to the Overlord battle, I am sure he would appreciate your talents."

"Do you really think so?" She asked as her eyes lit up.

"Of course," He smiled. "you might have to share a room with Nya, and it involves a lot of travel and early mornings and dangerous situations – you might need to learn how to fight and no two days are the same."

"I will do it!" She insisted, nodding enthusiastically. "Whatever it takes!"

He admired her boundless determination; her eyes were practically alight with fortitude. She was so excited that she couldn't stop herself from throwing her arms around him, doing so with such force that he fell backwards onto the bed. A wide lovestruck grin appeared on her face as she affectionately nuzzled him. He made her feel like this was where she was meant to be, that this was her purpose for being; that they were made for each other. Of course, she knew the real reason for her initial creation – she was built to assist, that was the purpose she served in Borg Industries – but so much had happened in the past month, and her AI had developed in ways that even Mr Borg did not anticipate.

Zane had fallen for her in the very first instant, hard and fast, so having her snuggle up to him was both flattering and encouraging. He would always be grateful to Cyrus for allowing him to rebuild his body here, but he was especially beholden to Pixal for all her efforts on his behalf. She risked a lot going all that way to retrieve his blueprints, then she found a new power source and took it upon herself to examine all the options for the best way to rebuild him. On top of that she reconstructed all his interior circuits on her own. He leaned his head against hers; the whirring of her internal mechanisms sounded much like an amorous purr. He tried desperately to resist the overwhelming urge to kiss her – the last thing he wanted was for her to think he was taking advantage of their current position.

"I did not know you could dance." Pixal said, setting her hands either side of him and propping herself up.

"I have always known how to dance solo," Zane mentioned as he sat up and leaned on his elbows. "but I only recently learned to dance a duet, even then it was only theory until I got some practice earlier."

"Can you teach me?" She asked.

"If you like, though I have to say you did very well on your own." He noted.

"I was anticipating your movements and reacting to them accordingly," She corrected, leaning back to sit on her knees. "it is not the same as knowing the steps yourself."

"Okay," He grinned. "I am not a teacher, but I can certainly show you what I know."

Zane got off the bad and stood up, offering his hand to Pixal. She accepted and shuffled onto her feet from the bed. He led her to an open space and stood by her side.

"We will start with something basic, so just stand normally," He stated as he began to demonstrate. "okay, step forward with your left foot, smoothly bring your right foot forward and curve it to the side, then close the gap, left foot to right foot."

"Like this?" She wondered, following his instructions.

"Perfect, now to step back we'll use the right foot first," He explained. "so, right foot back, take your left foot backward and curve it to the side, then close the gap, right foot to left foot."

Pixal looked like she was on board with the steps so far, though she was staring at her feet a lot.

"Right, let's try again but a little faster," He said as they went back to their starting positions. "forward, side, close the gap, back, side, close the gap – you're getting it now, keep going."

The two continued practicing the box step, with Zane giving verbal directions and Pixal following them. She was still staring at her feet though, which he found slightly worrying. Dancing is an art, an expression of one's mood or emotions, even when observing the official steps of particular dance techniques; it's not the sort of thing one should do while looking at one's feet. He began playing the waltz music he had been playing earlier and smiled at her approvingly.

"Shall we try together?" He asked, taking her hand and pulling her close, just as he had done on the manufacturing floor.

"Okay." She responded, glancing back down at her feet.

Sensing Pixal's uncertainty, Zane put his hand under her chin and lifted it gently, so they were looking into each other's eyes.

"Just relax, keep your eyes on me, and follow my lead." He grinned as he put one hand on her waist and took her free hand with the other.

On the next beat, he stepped forward with his left foot and she instinctively stepped back with her right. Although she started well, she stumbled a little, mixing up her left and right feet when stepping backward and trying to correct herself without disrupting his rhythm. She stared down at her feet in embarrassment. Maybe learning the steps wasn't the best idea, after all, she was doing much better when she was using predictive response to anticipate his moves. Zane noticed that Pixal seemed disheartened with herself and gently squeezed her hand. She looked up to see his caring smile beaming at her.

"You are too pretty to be staring at your feet while you dance," He advised. "listen to the music, let it guide you."

She smiled widely in response. There was a tenderness in his expression that gave her some much-needed encouragement. A strange sensation overwhelmed her as he gazed into her eyes; that startling, icy blue was incredibly soothing for her. From there, things became much easier. With his confidence seemingly rubbing off on her, she proceeded to perform the moves flawlessly; it was as if he flipped a switch.

"See? You really have a knack for this." Zane praised.

"Only because I had _you_ here to teach me." Pixal coyly smiled.

Admittedly, her room was a much more romantic place to be doing this kind of closed position style of dancing, and just like earlier when they had danced, he could almost sense their bodies working in rhythm with each other. Convinced that she had the basic steps down, he waltzed around with her, switching places without disturbing their sense of movement and sashaying around the room with careless abandon. He lifted his hand and led her into a spin, then he curled his arm around her and supported her back as they dipped. She giggled wildly, even as he returned them to an upright position.

"That was fun." She grinned, still giggling.

"Yes, it was." He smiled at her.

"I hope we can do it again." She mentioned.

"Of course," He agreed. "you have good rhythm, it would be a shame not to develop your skills."

Zane tried and failed to stifle an errant yawn. He didn't know what time it was, but he was feeling pretty tired. Pixal gave him a sympathetic glance. She didn't really get tired very often, her sleep mode was primarily for saving energy; which, again, was not particularly a problem these days. She took his hand and led him back to where they had been sitting before their impromptu dance lesson – her bed. Although she sat down, he remained standing.

"You are tired, you may sleep here if you like." She stated.

"It is not proper," He nervously responded, rubbing the back of his neck with his free hand. "and I would not want to put you in an awkward situation."

"You are tired," She repeated. "and I do not require sleep."

He _was_ tired, and the bed seemed comfy when he was sitting on it earlier, but it didn't seem right; he did not want to appear ungrateful, but neither did he want to impose on her any more than he already had. Slightly impatient, she tugged on his hand with enough force that he fell onto the bed.

"Please, sleep," She insisted. "you have a big day tomorrow."

"You mean, _we_ have a big day tomorrow." He corrected with an adoring grin on his face.

Pixal let go off his hand and moved to the top of the bed, where she propped herself up against the headboard. She sat like a doll, with her legs outstretched, and placed a pillow in her lap. He wondered what she was doing, until she gestured for him to come over to her. Zane hesitated for a moment, but he couldn't resist her amiable smile. He shuffled over and sat in front of her. She shook her head.

"Turn around and lean back." She beamed.

Zane could feel his face getting hot, it sounded like she wanted him to put his head in her lap. Such a thing was, according to Jay, a sign of great physical intimacy. He wanted to, but he wondered if he should. It's not like anyone would walk in and see them – this room was private and could only be accessed with a special key – and she wouldn't offer to do this if she wasn't comfortable with it.

So he did as he was told; he shuffled around to face the other way and looked back over his shoulder. She smiled and nodded. He slowly leaned back until he felt the softness of the pillow on the back of his head. As he looked up at her grinning face, with her striking green eyes staring back at him, it dawned on him just how much he loved her. Such a strong, almost magnetic attraction he had never felt before.

"Are you comfortable?" She asked.

"Very." He sheepishly answered.

Pixal began to stroke his hair. Zane closed his eyes. This was wonderful, her hands were so gentle, and she really made him feel at ease; every brush of her hand on his head was soothing. He soon relaxed into her delicate touch, tilting his head to one side as he felt himself drifting off.

"Pixal…" He mumbled.

"Yes Zane?"

"You are amazing…" He breathed as he fell asleep.

"So are you." She whispered, knowing he wouldn't hear her.

She glanced at his peaceful expression and smiled to herself. As she sat on the bed, with the love of her life resting blissfully in her lap, she thought over what he said about her going with him and the other ninja. She still wasn't entirely convinced that Sensei Wu would let her join him on his adventures, but she was willing to try, if only because the thought of being away from him would likely be enough to push her back into her bottomless grief.


	11. Deception

Pixal opened her eyes.

It appeared that her sleep mode had kicked in automatically, as she was laying down in her bed, despite last recalling being sat up against the headboard. She looked over at the pile of cushions and remembered what happened before she went offline. Zane was teaching her to dance and talking about taking her with him when he left to re-join his team. She glanced down at her hands… and noticed Zane's hand over hers.

Slowly, she turned her head to look over her shoulder, and there he was; fast asleep and lying directly behind her with his arm draped over her waist. She froze – torn between purposely pushing herself closer to him and trying to gently move away before he woke up. Ultimately, she chose the latter, as her internal screen showed that they had to leave soon anyway. With great stealth, she slid off the edge of the bed without disturbing him. As she knelt on the floor by the bed, she reached over and gently stroked his face.

"Zane…" She said quietly. "Zane… it's time to get up."

He stirred slightly, stretched out his arms and then rubbed his eyes. As they blinked open and saw Pixal's face beaming sweetly at him, he smiled.

"Is it morning already?" He asked.

"Yes, we have to be ready to leave in 10 minutes." She confirmed.

"But I was having such a wonderful dream." He mentioned as he sat up.

"What is it like to dream?" She wondered.

"It is a double-edged sword; the dreams can be good or bad, and you never know which of the two it will be until you are asleep."

"But the good dreams are worth the risk?"

"They can be," He nodded, making not-so-subtle glances at her. "that one certainly was."

Pixal stood up and walked over to the desk. She retrieved the parcel from yesterday, turned on her heel and walked back to Zane. He sat up and had another stretch, when she handed him the parcel.

"These should fit over your ninja uniform," She announced. "I will wait for you downstairs."

She walked toward the elevator doors, only to feel a tug on her hand. She turned to see Zane holding her hand and grinning shyly.

"I know I have said this before, but thank you," He stated. "you really came through for me, I cannot thank you enough for all you have done."

"I would do anything for you." She replied, squeezing his hand.

Zane half-smiled at her, his eyes glazed over with adoration. Pixal was fast becoming enamoured of the infatuated looks he gave her, they served as great encouragement that her feelings for him were mutual. She used their current hand contact to gently tug him forward and plant a spontaneous kiss on his cheek.

"I will wait for you downstairs." She repeated as she let go of his hand and walked over to the elevator.

She stepped in and waved at him as the doors closed.

Zane, on the other hand, was still floating in his own little world. He soon shook himself out of it, understanding that they were on something of a schedule. As he opened the parcel and pulled out the suit that was tailored just for him, he wondered how his friends would react to his unexpected return. There was every chance that they would just be relieved as Pixal that he was still among the living. He expected Jay to be beside himself with happiness, being the most emotional ninja, and Cole to be outwardly untroubled but inwardly very comforted to see him. Kai would be his usual confident self; "I knew you weren't really gone!" he'd say, while Lloyd could go either way – a toss-up between calm and collected but very happy, or outright delighted that he was back. Nya would probably be the most surprised, seeing as she had visited Borg Industries the same day that his body was finished, though he imagined Pixal had put on a believable performance of nonchalance.

He wondered why he was being taken to the docks though. Would the Bounty be there waiting for him? No, he suspected that it would be too obvious to have his team meet him there. Perhaps he would be journeying to a different meeting point; the boat at the dock was likely a go-between that would take him to a more neutral location. As he turned to exit the room, something shiny caught his eye. He rummaged through the parcel packaging and found a pair of sunglasses. Picking them up, he looked over them and eventually put them on. It didn't do much to hide his metal face, but it was something.

* * *

Hedges leaned against the shiny black limousine and sighed. Was he really going to do this? Betray Miss Borg, and by proxy his boss, Mr Borg? The man who had hired both him and his best friend to the same post?

 _I'll get canned anyway if they find out I broke confidentiality..._ he thought to himself. _In for a dime, in for a dollar, as they say._

Granted, it was at Hedges' father's behest that he and Benson were hired, but it went without saying that one should hold a certain amount of loyalty to one's employer. Ultimately, the only person he held any genuine allegiance to hadn't come into work this morning. On taking Hedges' advice, Benson had used one of his flexi-days to go to the hospital with his boyfriend Jack.

"Mr Hedges, thank you for your patience." Mr Borg said as he and Pixal approached.

"It's no trouble sir." Hedges insisted.

"We were waiting for my dear assistant's _personal_ bodyguard to arrive." He replied.

Out of the shadows stepped Zane, fully dressed in his new suit and sunglasses.

"This is, uh, Zander," Mr Borg explained, gesturing to Zane. "he was hired yesterday to escort Pixal on her sabbatical."

"Pleasure to meet you." Zane said as he walked up to Hedges and held out his hand. Hedges knew who he really was, but to prevent arousing suspicion from his boss, he shook hands with the ill-disguised droid and smiled.

"Nice to meet you, Zander," He grinned. "my name is Hedges, I'm your driver this morning."

Hedges walked around the trunk of the luxury car to open the door for Pixal.

"Miss Borg…" He bowed politely.

"Thank you." She smiled as she got into the vehicle.

Hedges went to close the door but was stopped by Mr Borg. As Hedges went to the other side of the vehicle and opened the door for "Zander", Cyrus Borg, with a warm, paternal smile, addressed the droid he had built.

"My dearest Pixal," He began. "I truly wish you all the best on your new journey, hopefully you will check in with me, from time to time."

"Of course," She beamed. "thank you for everything you have done for me."

"No matter where you go or what you do, remember this," He said with a sincere tone. "you are my daughter and I will always be here for you."

Pixal could feel a swell of emotion and she resisted the sudden urge to cry that was rising in her chest. She got out of the vehicle and gave her father figure a warm, enveloping hug. He returned the hug, patting her back gently.

"Now, go," He pulled away and wiped a tear from his eyes. "and if you ever need anything, all you have to do is ask."

"Thank you." She grinned

Mr Borg closed the door and watched as Hedges came over to him.

"You know exactly what to do?" Mr Borg asked.

"Escort Miss Borg and Zander to the docks, ensure they safely board their vessel and then return here." Hedges repeated the instructions given to him yesterday.

"Perfect." He smiled.

Hedges got into the driver's side and turned the key. As the engine revved to life and the limousine slowly started driving away, Mr Borg waved off the droid who had brought him so much joy, and the nindroid who had protected her so dutifully. He saw them both wave back to him out the back window. It was such an emotional moment, anyone would've thought they were heading into the sunset toward their happily ever after. Well, they _were_ going off to re-join Zane's team together, so it was basically the same thing. Sort of.

When Mr Borg was no longer visible from the rear window, Zane and Pixal glanced at each other with a smile.

"I cannot believe this is really happening!" She squeaked.

"I imagine you have never been on a sabbatical before." He lifted his sunglasses and winked at her, aware that Hedges might be listening.

"Oh, no I haven't," She winked back. "I am deeply enthused to see what is beyond New Ninjago – adventure, excitement, danger… romance."

Pixal gently squeezed his hand.

"Well, if there is danger I can protect you," He said confidently, clasping her hand in return. "it is what I was hired for."

"So, Zander," Hedges spoke as he kept his eyes on the road. "how long have you been a bodyguard?"

"As long as I can remember." He answered.

"Ha ha, yeah, security training sure feels like that sometimes." Hedges laughed.

"Yes, it seems like I spend most of my time training." Zane said, nudging Pixal who began giggling.

Hedges glanced in his rear-view mirror as "Zander" and Pixal talked quietly in the back seat. He still wondered what Clouse, or indeed Master Chen, wanted with the recently resurrected nindroid. At the same time though, he wasn't going to ask questions; Clouse's offer to double his money would come in handy for any supplemental treatments Jack might need. If Benson ever found out what Hedges was doing, he'd find himself facing the rough edge of Benson's tongue, not a pleasant experience. But he would do anything for Benson – theirs was a bromance for the ages.

They stopped at a red light and Hedges took the opportunity to message his best friend. He sent a quick text to Benson from his phone, asking how he and Jack were doing. The light went green again, and Hedges continued toward the docks. His phone buzzed angrily, shaking about in the cup holder as it alerted him to a phone call. Eventually the buzzing stopped.

 _That'll be Clouse…_ He thought to himself.

Fortunately, the docks were not far from here, just a few more minutes and they'd be there – pity Clouse had his underwear in a knot; the phone started buzzing again. You'd think even that weird patsy of Chen's would understand traffic laws and know that if Hedges wasn't answering the phone there was a good reason for it. He rolled his eyes as the buzzing stopped and almost immediately started up again.

As the sleek black limousine pulled up to the docks, Hedges noticed all the labourers and sea-faring types giving him a funny look. Presumably, they didn't get many luxury vehicles in this area during the day, though he suspected plenty came here at night. He coasted toward the end of the dock and braked as soon as he saw Clouse, mugging at him with a very unimpressed expression. Hedges put the hand brake on and got out of the car. He ignored Clouse's evil eye and went to open the door for Miss Borg, while "Zander" got out on his own.

"Thank you," She said sweetly as she got out.

"If you would follow me, Miss Borg… Zander…" He insisted, leading them over to a very grumpy-looking Clouse.

"I have been _eagerly_ waiting for you, Mr Hedges." Clouse narrowed his eyes.

"We were running slightly behind." Hedges mentioned.

"It was my fault," Pixal admitted. "I woke up later than expected."

Clouse smiled widely at the droid who approached him.

"Such a sweet young lady, surely you are not travelling alone?" Clouse asked expectantly.

"Of course not," Hedges interrupted, gesturing to the other suited person that was with them. "this is Zander, Miss Borg's _personal_ bodyguard."

Hedges gave Clouse a subtle wink.

"It is a pleasure to meet you both, the ferry is almost ready to depart," Clouse bowed and gestured toward a large, double decked steamboat. "if you would be so kind as to board now."

"Thank you." Zane nodded, staying close to Pixal as they walked up the gangway and onto the ferry.

As the two droids stood on the main deck, looking over the rails at the vast ocean, Clouse approached Hedges with a brown leather briefcase and a sinister smirk. The two glanced at each other in silence and walked to the back of the limo. Hedges popped the trunk and Clouse placed the briefcase inside. Just as Hedges went to touch it, Clouse slapped his hand away.

"The nindroid is well disguised," Clouse mused. "one would almost think it is not him."

"Pfff, as if! His real name is Zane, and Mr Borg called him 'Zander'," Hedges snorted. "disguise or not, that name gives it away completely."

"Then how do you explain the discrepancies in his appearance?" Clouse asked pointedly. "The nindroid that saved New Ninjago had normal skin and white-ish hair, this one is very… metallic."

"You saw the pictures of him in Borg Industries; the evidence of his ice powers were all over the background!" Hedges impatiently mentioned. "This is how she rebuilt him, without the synthetic skin and with lighter hair; I was hardly given any input in his new design."

"Very well," Clouse opened the briefcase to reveal a large sum of money. "a deal is a deal."

Hedges, being the sceptical type, took the time to inspect each bundle of cash to make sure it was all there. It wasn't so much Clouse as it was Master Chen that he was cautious of – the man was a lunatic with delusions of grandeur who needed constant entertainment; Hedges had seen the madness that followed his cries of "I'm bored!" and decided that he did not trust Chen as far as he could be thrown.

"Tut, tut, such sore misgivings…." Clouse sighed, shaking his head.

"Call it what you like, that master of yours is a nutcase." Hedges remarked as he closed the case, removed it from the trunk and slammed the trunk lid shut.

"A little harsh, but you'll have no arguments from me," Clouse agreed. "regardless, Master Chen will be most pleased."

"Good, if you need anything else, don't call me," Hedges put the briefcase under the passenger's seat and got back into the driver's side, only for Clouse to stop him before he could close the door.

"Do not be so hasty, after all, you have the mark on you now," Clouse smugly boasted. "you will come when Master Chen calls or there will be… _penalties_ to pay."

The gaunt man grinned wickedly at Hedges as he walked up the gangway and into the ferry. Hedges closed the car door and half-heartedly returned Pixal's enthusiastic waving from the main deck. He watched the ferry slowly leave the port and exasperatedly hit his head on the steering wheel. Hedges was suddenly struck with a terrible feeling in the pit of his stomach. As he began to cautiously reverse the vehicle off the dock and back onto the road, all thoughts of Miss Borg and Zane were replaced by those of his best friend Benson, currently at the hospital to support Jack through another round of chemo. Before heading off, he picked up his phone and dialled a number.

"Is this St Mary's Hospital? This is Harry Hedges, please let Dr Moss know I'm running late, but I'll be there as soon as possible."


	12. Destruction

Zane groaned as his eyes opened. He gently shook his head, attempting to sift through the grogginess in his mind. He blinked a few times and looked around. The room was dark, save for the light beaming in through the door nearby, and although he had no idea how he got there, he wasn't restrained in any way – just very confused. Last he remembered, he and Pixal had boarded the ferry at the New Ninjago docks, unsure of their ultimate destination but anticipating a mutual meeting place to re-join his team. He stood up and brushed himself off, only to realise that he was no longer wearing the suit; his new ninja uniform was on show for all to see.

Suddenly, he heard a loud and very familiar scream.

"Pixal!" He yelled, bolting out the open door and down a long corridor.

He ran past clusters of men walking around and carrying things, their heads adorned with reptilian skulls and their faces and bodies embellished with purple markings. None of them seemed interested in stopping him, not that they would have succeeded if they tried. Another scream echoed out and he screeched to a halt. Panicked, he glanced from left to right, trying to locate the source of the pained cries. Eventually he took off and burst through a nearby set of double doors, which opened into a large, opulently decorated room.

In the middle of the room was Clouse, the man who had greeted Pixal and himself at the ferry.

"Where is Pixal?" Zane demanded.

"I was wondering when you would awaken, Master of Ice," Clouse smirked. "I must apologise, it appears that the men treated you a little too roughly."

"Where is Pixal?" He repeated, becoming very agitated.

"Ah yes, the young lady…" Clouse clapped his hands.

Two of the purple-clad, skull-wearing men appeared from behind a nearby pillar, as Pixal squirmed uncomfortably in their grasp. This infuriated Zane and his eyes began to glow a fierce blue.

"Zane!" She whimpered.

"Let her go…" He growled.

"I would love to, but Master Chen has plans for her," Clouse mused smugly. "and for you."

"I said, let her go…" Zane angrily echoed his previous statement.

Clouse, highly amused by this reaction and hoping to push it further, stared the nindroid down with a sinister grin. With another clap of his hands, one of the men twisted Pixal's arm behind her back, eliciting an unbearable cry of pain. Ice began to form in spikes along Zane's shoulders and trailed down his back. Even as the ice came around and entreated upon Clouse's personal space, he didn't flinch, in fact he clapped his hands again. On command, the man twisted her arm even further. Pixal screamed. She couldn't stop the tears from falling and she looked to Zane bravely.

"I am okay." She said weakly.

"I am giving you one final warning…" Zane bellowed, his eyes narrowing furiously. "Let. Her. Go!"

Clouse chuckled and this time, gave a short, high-pitched whistle. Suddenly, the other man – who thus far had done nothing – pulled out a portable circular saw from behind his back. With the press of a button, the saw surged to life, and before they knew where they were, the man had sliced through Pixal's shoulder. As her now severed arm hit the ground, she let out a piercing shriek of such magnitude that both the men holding her, and Clouse, dropped to their knees and covered their ears from the awful noise. Zane was filled with horror. He ran over and caught her as she fell, still wailing from the excruciating pain she was in. He tried to comfort her, but as the tears began to fall from his eyes and onto her face, he was too overwhelmed to be of any use.

"Pixal…" He wept, helplessly watching the sparks fly out from her shoulder. "Do not worry, we will get you out of here, we will fix your arm; everything will be alright."

"I-I am o-o-kay…" She mumbled, before shutting down from the intense pain.

He pulled her close and apologised profusely. He picked up her disconnected limb, his eyes still full of tears, and tucked it safely in his uniform. He lifted her in his arms and stood up, desperately looking around for an exit. With her debilitating cries stopped at the source, Clouse and the two men were no longer incapacitated.

"Now that you know what we are capable of, perhaps we can arrange the conditions of your surrender." Clouse sneered confidently as he got up.

"You declare war, and then immediately expect me to submit to you?" Zane muttered, not looking at the arrogant man behind him.

"What other choice do you have?" Clouse pompously asked. "There are hundreds of men here on the island, all under my command; you are outnumbered."

In an instant, Zane's head turned 180 degrees and his eyes began to glow white with hatred.

"You tried to destroy my world, allow me to return the favour!"

Zane realigned his head to the correct position and he let out an echoing, anguished roar. An arctic wind began to blow violently in the room. Wave after wave of uneven ice fragments jutted up from the ground by his feet. The two minions shoved their way through the heavy main doors and ran like frostbitten cats. Even Clouse opted to cut and run as the ice spread out and swallowed the floor in jagged clusters.

The polar mist circled around Zane and Pixal, and hardened to create a spherical shield. More shards shot upwards and outwards, going clean through the high ceiling of the room they were in and breaking the thick pillars like toothpicks. He stormed out the main doors just as the building came crashing in on itself. He went in search of Clouse, lashing out at anyone who came near him. He made his way through the swathes of minions ordered to take him out and sent every one of them flying with his glacial spikes.

The tears continued to pour down his cheeks and froze into crystal droplets before they fell. He deftly held Pixal close and endeavoured to find an escape. Everywhere he looked, he saw unfamiliar buildings and more angry peons, and soon he realised they were on an island so isolated that there was nothing but ocean on the horizon. Swallowed by his unwavering anger, Zane proceeded to lay waste to everything on the island, consumed by the desire to cause as much destruction as possible. Icicles fired in all directions like pointed quills that pushed back the wave of oncoming enemies, followed by large hail stones that broke through walls and brought down several smaller buildings.

Clouse meanwhile was watching the devastation from a safe vantage point.

"Master Chen will be furious when he sees what's happened to the island." Fretted a nearby hireling.

"Yes, but at least we have confirmation of the nindroid's power," Clouse said, wincing as yet another building was destroyed. "the hard part now is calming him down."

"How, though? He's on a rampage!"

Clouse turned around and opened a nearby closet – he came running into _this_ room for a very specific reason. A sinister chuckle escaped his lips as he pulled out a long weapon with two metal points at one end. He thrust it into the serf's hands and grinned wickedly.

"This is a high-strength, custom-built cattle prod; capable of delivering half a lightning bolt worth of electrical charge," Clouse demonstrated, as with the mere press of a button, an electrical current crackled and flashed between the two prongs. "aim for the back of his head and scramble his robotic brain until he's unconscious."

Clouse was perturbed to see the man still standing there, giving him an uncertain glance.

"Well? Get on with it!" He yelled.

"Yes sir!"

He watched the clueless man run down the stairs and out the door, dutifully following in Zane's icy wake. Clouse silently encouraged the nameless minion as he stalked the nindroid, narrowly avoiding a number of attacks that were periodically being thrown at all angles. The nindroid appeared to be locked in a trance, not only tearing around the island like a violent sub-zero squall, but completely unaware that he was being followed – and at fairly close range too. While Clouse watched his cautious lackey waiting for the right moment to strike, he realised that the low-ranking follower was right; Master Chen would be finishing his nap any minute now, and he would blow his lid when he saw the level of annihilation Zane was causing. They'd be lucky if there was anything left to salvage if they didn't act fast.

Meanwhile, the man following Zane realised that the droid had to be stopped, and the longer he waited, the worse things were going to get. He took a deep breath. In one swift motion, he broke through Zane's ice barrier with one end of the weapon and quickly zapped him with the other end. He looked at the staff and realised it was set to 100 milliamps. The nindroid's body seized and jolted as some 200,000 volts were sent through him. When the weapon was finally taken away, Zane stood for barely a moment before falling forward. Small sparks of electricity came off him and he curled around Pixal protectively.

Clouse came running up to the minion and patted him on the back in a laudatory fashion.

"Congratulations," Clouse said to him with a sly grin. "from now on we shall call you Raiden."

"Wow, thank you sir!" He replied.

A handful of other followers came over. They too congratulated him, both for stopping the nindroid and for gaining an official name – something that did not happen very often in this particular circle. Master Chen was quite the demeaning man, while he did not interfere with his agents on the mainland, he insisted that anyone who joined him on the island had to abandon their given names. Often, he simply addressed them as "you" or "minion" when he needed to give directions. He did, however, bestow upon them a different name once they had earned it. The newly named Raiden was known as Ryan on the mainland, so it wasn't too far off where being renamed was concerned.

"What in the name of flying spicy noodles is going on here?" Master Chen yelled as he seemingly appeared out of nowhere.

Clouse heaved a weighty sigh. He was hoping to at least get some damage control done before Master Chen arrived.

"Raiden, you and those two there get this nindroid into one of the cells," Clouse hissed. "and make sure he's chained up properly."

"But what about the girl?" Raiden asked.

"Put her in the cells too, I need to see if she has any valuable components." Clouse ordered.

"I go for a quick nap and this is what I wake up to?" He shouted belligerently. "How am I supposed to have my Tournament of Elements in this mess? It'll take _months_ to get this place knocked back into shape!"

"Forgive me, Master, but further to your instructions I tested the nindroid's power to make sure he was one of the elemental ninja," Clouse bowed. "as you can see, his power is phenomenal and will be of great use to you."

"Yes, yes, he will be a great addition to my plan," Chen chuckled ominously. "now we have one of the ninja, we can send them the message and lure them here!"

As if on cue, an ice-coated chunk of a nearby building fell, narrowly avoiding Chen in the process.

"Perhaps it would be best to put off sending the message to the other ninja until we have fixed the island." Clouse suggested.

"But I wanted to send it as soon as that one got here!" Chen pouted like a whiny child.

"Master, there is nothing I would rather do than follow your instructions as and when you give them, but they would be suspicious if they saw evidence that there was a problem," Clouse looked around. "and with all due respect, it doesn't look good."

"I have decided!" Chen yelled, banging his staff on the ground. "Inform my minions that they must repair all the damage to my island!"

"Yes Master." Clouse bowed as he walked away.


	13. Picking Up the Pieces

Raiden escorted Clouse to the underground cell where he and the others had put Pixal and Zane. She was still unconscious and, unlike Zane, had not been secured in place. It had been several hours since Zane's rage-fuelled rampage had laid waste to Master Chen's island. Most of the minions were out trying to rebuild what remained of the nindroid's wave of destruction. The lights flickered in the cell and Clouse tutted, completely unimpressed. All the additional strain of charging and using power tools to fix all the damage was affecting their generators.

"This is ridiculous." Clouse complained.

"I understand wanting to test the nindroid's power, but it went too far," Raiden commented. "Master Chen confuses me sometimes."

"He is a complex leader, but everything he does is for good reason," Clouse unconvincingly said.

Raiden, as a newly named lackey, was given slightly more freedoms and privileges than most of the followers on the island. As such, he felt safe voicing his opinions to Clouse. Clouse, however, didn't trust many people, especially not someone as wet-behind-the-ears as Raiden, so he continued to spout the loyal phrases that were expected of him. He knew that Chen was a mad man, but he also knew that he had to stay on Chen's good side.

"Did you bring her other arm?"

"Yes, I retrieved it from the ninja, per my orders." Raiden, who was carrying the arm at the time, offered it to Clouse.

Clouse pulled an offended face. Raiden took his cue from that and placed the arm on a nearby table.

"Is it really safe keeping the nindroid here on the island?"

"You tell me, you are the one who chained him up." Clouse remarked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes sir, we used the strongest chains in the dungeon," Raiden asserted. "but what if he wakes up and remembers what happened?"

"Why do you think we put him in the cell next door to this one?" Clouse asked with a sigh.

"As I understand it, the idea is to use her as a balm," Raiden answered. "he'll hear her voice and be placated."

"Clever boy," Clouse grinned. "that doesn't mean she's safe though, I need to see if she has any parts we can use."

He had a small flashlight and shone it into the hole on her side where her arm previously was. Clouse soon noticed something interesting and stepped back, a curious look on his face. He moved round and started poking at her torso with a flathead screwdriver. Eventually he discovered the joins of her chest cavity and pried it open. Raiden turned away, slightly embarrassed. Clouse watched him and chuckled.

"It's just a droid you know." He mentioned.

"A _female_ droid, sir," Raiden corrected. "it seems wrong to look."

"Such a gentleman," Clouse retorted. "I bet the kabuki girls just _love_ you."

"Why, have you heard something?" Raiden smiled hopefully.

Clouse said nothing, just shook his head. He poked around a bit more, when suddenly a circular port on her left side opened up. A wide, sinister grin spread across Clouse's face and an evil chuckle escaped his lips.

"Do you know what this is?" He openly asked.

Raiden still couldn't bring himself to look into Pixal's open chest, until Clouse gave him a stubborn prod with the screwdriver. Still uncomfortable, Raiden slowly peeked in to look at whatever Clouse was pointing at. The young man was unsure what the circular object was, but half of it was glowing faintly blue.

"It looks like a power source that's been divided in two." Raiden said.

"Exactly," Clouse said. "I don't suppose you've heard of Dr Julien?"

"No." Raiden shook his head.

"Of course not," Clouse mused in a deadpan tone. "it doesn't matter anyway; this will definitely come in handy."

"Wait!" Raiden jerked Clouse backward as he went to take out the blue semi-circle.

"You dare to interfere with me?" Clouse snapped.

"Yes, no, I mean, if you take that out, she won't wake up," Raiden reasoned. "don't we need her awake to keep the nindroid calm?"

Clouse was struck dumb. It hadn't occurred to him that if they took the half power source, she wouldn't serve the purpose they were keeping her for. He pondered for a moment. There had to be a way around it, they _needed_ this self-sufficient power to facilitate rebuilding the island's many interconnected structures. That's when it hit him. He turned to Raiden with a determined look on his face.

"I need you to retrieve the computer in the office," Clouse demanded. "the one on the underground noodle manufacturing floor – now!"

"Yes sir!" Raiden bolted out of the room.

"Let's just hope _that_ wasn't damaged as well." Clouse huffed.

* * *

Hedges knocked on the door of the private hospital room.

"Come in."

He opened the door and walked in, waving to Benson who was sitting in a chair by the bed. Benson smiled at the sight of his best friend, standing there in his work uniform with a handful of balloons.

"Are you going to a party?" Benson joked.

"Ha ha," Hedges rolled his eyes and smiled. "I wanted to get something for Jack but thought flowers were a bit… weird."

"He'll love them."

"So where is Jack?" Hedges asked.

As if to answer his question, he heard a flushing sound. Jack came out of the bathroom and feebly waved to Hedges, a small grin on his face. The young man was hooked up to a portable IV pole and looked a little pale. Jack walked over to the bed and sat down, tucking his legs under the covers and leaning back to try and get comfortable.

"Good to see you, man." Hedges smiled and lightly patted his shoulder.

"Thanks for coming to see me," Jack grinned. "how's the tattoo?"

Hedges glanced over at Benson, who simply shrugged his shoulders.

"Gooey, but it's healing well," Hedges chuckled. "here, I got you some balloons."

"Are we having a party?" Jack asked Benson, who immediately started laughing.

"I didn't know if you'd want flowers, so I went with these." Hedges tied the helium-filled balloons to a vase on the bedside table.

"Cherry blossoms are my favourite, but they are somewhat time sensitive," Jack laughed. "thanks for the balloons, they cheer me up so much."

"Not that we need much cheering up today of course." Benson hinted, fidgeting in his chair.

"Did I miss something?" Hedges wondered as he also sat down.

"You tell him Jack," Benson said excitedly.

"No, you tell him Bailey." Jack remarked.

"Well, someone tell me!" Hedges stated.

"You remember when I mentioned the six-month wait for that experimental treatment?" Benson grinned, looking like he was about to burst with excitement. "Well, we just had a visit from Dr Moss and one of the hospital's benefactors has offered to pay for the treatment!"

"What? That's great news!" Hedges grinned widely. "When do you start?"

"Tomorrow - they're combining it with my chemo treatment," Jack beamed. "I'm having the immunotherapy via IV as well."

"It means another night in hospital, but I'm so happy we don't have to wait half a year!" Benson declared.

"Me too, I was worried about the long wait." Hedges agreed.

He watched as Jack and Benson chatted about how they couldn't believe their luck, that they could tell it was good news just by the expression on Dr Moss' face. Hedges was relieved that the doctor hadn't told them who was behind the donation. After he went in to see Dr Moss himself, he went down to the hospital canteen for something to eat. He dithered over his coffee and cake, sitting there for over an hour to make sure he left enough time for the doctor to visit them; other people came and went – patients, visitors, other doctors and nurses. Eventually he went to the gift shop for some balloons to brighten up Jack's room. They didn't have a great selection, just the usual "congratulations!" for new parents, cartoon characters for young children, and the standard "get well soon" which he opted for in the end.

"Okay guys, I hate to chat and leave, but I was supposed to go back to Borg Industries after dropping Miss Borg off at the docks." Hedges mentioned as he stood up.

"Aww, she's leaving already?" Benson pouted.

"She's already gone," Hedges chuckled. "the ferry left a couple hours ago."

"Miss Borg? Oh, is she the one you've been guarding?" Jack asked.

"Yes, she was working on some kind of project, but it wasn't going well," Hedges explained. "so she's taken a sabbatical."

"I'm gonna miss her, she was lovely." Benson admitted.

"You didn't drop her off alone, did you?" Jack said, voicing some concern for the droid. "I mean, from what you said she's practically Mr Borg's daughter."

"Don't worry," Hedges remarked. "she was assigned a personal bodyguard this morning, she went with him."

"Personal bodyguard?" Benson queried.

Hedges simply winked and tapped the side of his nose.

"Well, it's been great to see you, Jack, take it easy." Hedges touched Benson on the shoulder as he walked toward the door.

"Gimme a minute." Benson said to Jack, before he followed Hedges out of the room.

He closed the door behind him and grabbed Hedges' jacket. Hedges turned to see Benson with a questioning expression on his face.

"Was it him?" Benson wondered. "The nindroid."

"Yep," Hedges confirmed. "badly disguised in a suit and sunglasses, but yes, and it seems they're off on their 'happily ever after'."

"You sound so bitter." Benson noted.

"Can you blame me? With what's happening to you and Jack, and Evelyn's anniversary coming up…"

"We can't change the past, Harry, all we can do is manage the present and plan for the future the best we can." Benson said.

Hedges sighed. He had said that exact same thing to Benson not too long ago. A hospital corridor was no place for him to start crying, but that's exactly what happened; Hedges broke down. He leaned against the wall and slid to the floor, his eyes filled with tears and he just broke down. Benson knelt beside his friend and tried to comfort him.

"You should speak to Mr Borg, he'll let you have some time off," Benson insisted. "he's very generous you know."

"I can't do that, it would leave him short," Hedges stated, wiping his tears away on his sleeve. "and we haven't been working for him that long remember."

"Well, your dad said he's a pretty nice guy, and all the other employees had good things to say about him too," Benson lowered his voice to a whisper. "in fact, between you and me, I think Mr Borg is the one who paid for Jack's treatment."

Hedges immediately started laughing, fuelled by relief and confusion. Hedges turned to his best friend and pulled him into a warm, affectionate hug; sniffling and chuckling as he patted Benson's back. Benson pulled away with a concerned smile. With that, he and Benson stood up.

"Ask him," Benson declared. "the worst thing he'll say is no, and if he says yes, then you can take a mental health day – go to the doctor or visit Evelyn."

"Thanks bro." Hedges said sincerely.

Benson ruffled the man's hair before he walked back into Jack's room. Hedges smiled to himself, half chuckling over Benson's theory. It was interesting to say the least, and aside from the fact Mr Borg was unaware of Jack's illness, it was true that Mr Borg was a generous man; frankly he was surprised he didn't have a going away party for Pixal, but then he remembered that one of Miss Borg's many jobs to plan parties. As far as he knew, her replacement only started work today.

Hedges wondered who was chosen to take over Miss Borg's work while she was away. It would be a long-term position no doubt, who knew if she was ever gonna come back. He suspected, she would not. He walked into the parking lot and got back into the limousine that barely fit into a standard parking space. He had the forethought to reverse into the space, so getting out was easy. Hedges made a hands-free phone call as he waited for the barrier to rise. There were a few rings, then someone answered.

"Hello?"

"Mr Borg, it's Hedges."

"Mr Hedges!" He replied excitedly. "I was starting to worry! Did Pixal and Zander get to the ferry alright? They didn't miss it did they?"

"Not to worry, sir, they successfully boarded the ferry," Hedges answered. "I must apologise for my lateness in coming back, I wanted to check in on Benson."

"Yes, he's at the hospital for an appointment, how is he?" Cyrus wondered.

"Things are looking up, sir," Hedges confirmed. "I'm on my way back now, should be there in a few minutes."

"Good, good, make sure you report to me as soon as you return."

"Will do, Mr Borg – Hedges out." He hung up the call and sighed.

He couldn't ask Mr Borg for time off, not after he betrayed him and his daughter. Pixal, or Miss Borg as he had come to know her, was a lovely young lady – Benson was right there – would he really begrudge her the type of happiness that he had known with Evelyn? Who was he to judge her for wanting to bring the nindroid back? If he had the opportunity to bring Evelyn back, you bet he would take it.

Of course he felt guilty for his deception, but he'd do it again if he had to. He had no crystal ball, no psychic powers – he didn't know if this new treatment would even work; sarcoma was a complicated beast – but if it gave Jack a second chance, no matter how short, then it would be worth it. Was there a better way of going about it? Maybe, but with options as limited as his, he couldn't resist when the offer was dropped in his lap by Clouse.

As he pulled into the parking garage of Borg Industries, he sighed again.

If it ever came to light that he deliberately handed Pixal and Zane over for cold hard cash, no matter what the reason, his life was as good as over.


	14. The Final Pieces in Place

Hello reader. Welcome to the final chapter. I told you there would be! This chapter will attempt to incorporate itself into the canon events of the Tournament of Elements episode 3 "Versus". I have made an estimation that there was approximately a 3 month time skip between the Rebooted season and the Tournament of Elements season, and have written accordingly.

If anyone is interested in a bonus chapter where we find out what happened to Hedges after Chen turned his minions into Serpentine, let me know!

In the meantime, enjoy.

* * *

 **THREE MONTHS LATER...**

Clouse went on his usual pilgrimage to Pixal's underground cell. Every day for the past three months he had been coming here, and it seemed like no progress was being made – Zane had yet to come out of his unconscious state. In attempt to torment her, Clouse had told Pixal everything that happened after she passed out; Zane's fury-induced snow storm that had all but obliterated the island, and recounting the massive electric shock they subjected him to in order to stop his blind frenzy. As he walked in the door and over to the computer, her face appeared on the screen. She did not look happy at all.

"Why so sad, little droid?" Clouse taunted her. "Is your darling tempest still unconscious?"

" _You've taken his powers and left him chained to the wall like some kind of monster,"_ She snapped. _"what more could you possibly want from him?"_

"Purely collateral; we needed him to lure the other ninja here," Clouse bragged before his voice turned vicious. "and after what he did to the island, and my men, he _deserves_ to be treated like a monster."

" _You have no one to blame but yourself for that,"_ She frowned. _"how did you expect him to react when you sliced my arm off?"_

"I suppose you're right, I should not have underestimated his capabilities," He admitted. "nor should I have underestimated his emotional investment in _you_."

" _And how do you expect him to react to you scrapping my body altogether?"_ She said darkly.

"Oh dear, have I upset you?" He asked sarcastically.

" _I do not care what you have done to me, but Zane will not be happy when he sees this,"_ She mentioned, gesturing to her body parts strewn around the room. _"how do you intend on preventing a repeat performance?"_

"You said it yourself; we've taken his powers – no powers, no repetition," He grinned. "and thanks to your kind _donation_ of a self-sustaining power source a few months ago, we now have the island back to normal and Master Chen's tournament has begun."

Pixal silently fumed. They had stolen the half of Zane's original heart that had previously powered her body. She was angrier about them taking that than she was about being scrapped. That power source was all that remained of his original body and she was furious that they had helped themselves to it. More so, she was deeply concerned for the fact that he had seemingly not woken up once in the entire time they had been in the cells.

"If you will excuse me, I have other matters to attend to," He added. "as I said before, the tournament of elements has already started."

" _Why are you telling me this?"_ She wondered.

"Because if you cannot rouse your precious blizzard soon, Master Chen might have to start taking himapart looking for an 'on' switch," Clouse smugly mentioned. "and we can't have that now, can we?"

He chuckled wickedly as he left her cell, locking the door as he went. It was not as if she could escape without a functioning body but locking doors behind him was force of habit at this point. Pixal sobbed to herself. Zane was going to be so upset once he found out what they had done to her, but she was determined not to let him find out for as long as possible – he had to get out of here, he had to stop Chen and re-join his friends now they were here on the island.

" _I guess this means I will not be able to go with you after all…"_ She said out loud with a forlorn sigh.

Pixal was now nothing more than a neural drive in a computer. Her possible future with Zane was disappearing in front of her and if she was still in her body, her heart would be breaking right now. What was Zane going to make of her situation? She acted tough around Clouse, insistent that this was likely to throw Zane into another rage, but she didn't know for sure how he was going to react. At the same time, there was also some sympathy for Mr Hedges. He had arranged their transport in good faith, and Clouse had betrayed him, taking Zane for his master's devious purposes.

She looked up at the small window that connected their cells. The window was far too high up for her to see him, or for him to see her. But perhaps it was for the best; he couldn't know her current situation, it would only make things harder for him to leave. Deep down, she imagined that he would struggle to go on without her, such was their intense connection. It was vital that he go on with his friends, but she would make the most of their remaining time together.

" _Zane…?"_ She asked hopefully.

At first, there was nothing, but then, she heard the jangling of chains. Was he finally awake? Or were Chen's minions taking him to another cell? She couldn't be sure, but she called out to him, just in case.

" _Zane, are you still there? If you can hear me, wake up!"_ She pleaded. _"You need to wake up!"_

She heard him jostling around some more, until he finally appeared to settle.

"It was only a dream..." He said.

" _It's amazing that you dream, I've often wondered what it's like,"_ She commented, relieved that he was finally awake again. _"you've always been special."_

"Where am I? Who are you?"

She no longer had a real heart, but the digital part of where her heart would be, broke a little. Although, considering the substantial electric shock he had received, it wasn't surprising that he was a little muddled.

" _I'm Pixal, a friend, and you're in danger and have to get out of here,"_ She explained. _"your memory drive is out of sorts, and your elemental power-"_

"Elemental power?" He repeated, mildly confused.

" _You're a nindroid Zane, a ninja, and your friends are here to save you,"_ She continued. _"but they can't do it all – you have to remember who you are."_

"Friends..."

" _Remember Zane, you saved your friends and then rebuilt yourself,"_ She told him. It was basically true, he did about 80 percent of the rebuild while she was in sleep mode or being distracted by other duties. _"there are things about you that you don't understand, that you've yet to discover, but if we're ever going to get out of here, you need to remember."_

"Pixal…" He said happily, as he began to recall who she was. "We are compatible?"

" _Yes Zane,"_ She contentedly replied. _"yes we are."_

* * *

Benson strolled into work with a happy tune in his heart and a smile on his lips. He couldn't remember the last time he felt so carefree and joyous. As he waved to the receptionists and greeted other members of staff in the lobby, he was looking forward to seeing his best friend and work partner Hedges. He walked into the ground floor staff canteen, and found Hedges flipping casually through a magazine.

"Good morning!" He sang as he took a seat next to Hedges.

"Good morning," Hedges replied. "you're in a stellar mood today, what gives?"

"I just got a phone call from Jack," Benson grinned. "his preliminary results came back, and it looks like the immunotherapy is working!"

"That's great news!" Hedges smiled, patting his friend on the back.

"I know," Benson couldn't hold back a long, high-pitched squee sound. "I'm just so happy!"

Hedges was filled with relief. It had been about 3 months, and nothing had come of his betrayal – he still had his job; his best friend was finally enjoying some happiness and he'd heard nothing from Clouse since that day on the docks. He hadn't even seen him at the noodle bar, which he and Benson still frequented several times a week.

"What do you think of this?" Hedges said, leaning over to show Benson what was in the magazine he was reading.

" _Another_ tattoo? Are you serious?" Benson sighed.

"Not for me, you happy idiot," Hedges rolled his eyes. "I mean for you."

"Oh." Benson paused and looked at the design Hedges was referring to.

It was simplified, tribal line-art style tattoo, of a phoenix with both wings raised high above its head. Benson looked over the design, not speaking and not reacting one way or another, but seemingly trying to take in every thick and thin line.

"I know it's a bit basic, but it would be a great starter tattoo," Hedges explained, trying to fill the silence. "and it's quite poignant really, considering everything you've been through."

Benson could feel himself shaking. Hedges noticed this and quickly started to backpedal.

"Of course, I don't want you to think I'm pressuring you or anything," He said. "you don't have to get a tattoo, just thought this one would suit you."

Hedges tried to close the magazine, only for Benson to stop him.

"It looks just like the one Jack has on his right shoulder," Benson stated as the shaking turned out to be a precursor to a round of joyous laughter.

"Maybe you could get a matching one? Run it by Jack first, though," Hedges suggested. "I think matching tattoos are something that both parties need to agree on."

"Good idea," Benson decided. He glanced at his watch and realised their shift was about to start. "we'd better get moving, any idea what our job is for today?"

"No idea, we'll need to find Mr Borg," Hedges said. "I think he's in his office."

"Have you heard anything from Miss Borg lately?" Benson asked.

"Nothing," Hedges innocently responded. "but you know the saying – 'no news is good news' – she's probably too busy enjoying herself to report back."

"I just have a bad feeling," Benson confessed. "did she seem okay when you dropped her off?"

"Yeah, she was excited to be going on a new adventure." Hedges assured him.

Benson didn't look particularly comforted by that statement.

"Why the sudden concern?" Hedges queried. "After all, she and her bodyguard left three months ago."

"Sorry, I guess I'm just paranoid."

"With everything you've been through, I'm not surprised." Hedges gave Benson a sympathetic smile and put his arm around him.

* * *

Zane struggled against the chains that held him to the stone wall of the cell. He'd been intermittently trying to jog his memory and break free of the metal bonds ever since Pixal had woken him up. He wasn't sure what was going on, and he wasn't sure how long he'd been unconscious, but the nightmares he'd been having about an ice dragon were tormenting him pretty much the whole time. Pixal had mentioned something about elemental powers, was the dragon a part of those powers?

He sighed, highly irritated that all this grappling was getting him nowhere.

" _Zane, you're built differently, you have to search deep within yourself."_ Pixal insisted.

He didn't know what she was talking about, but he felt the optimism in her tone. He stopped to think, and tried to read the signals in his body, when he became aware of something in his right arm that might be useful. A panel opened on his forearm and a small buzz saw came out, whirring angrily.

" _Yes, that's it!"_ She said excitedly. _"You're remembering!"_

He looked up at the window, listening to the encouraging voice that came from the cell next to him. Slowly, some of his memories were coming back. He recalled finding his way into Cyrus Borg's system, Pixal going out of her way to get his blueprints and help rebuild his body, laughing with her as they danced around the manufacturing floor.

Suddenly he heard some guards approaching, discussing who they were backing in the next round of the tournament. Hearing them mention the names Jay and Cole brought back some other memories – training with them, eating with them, witnessing Cole reach his full potential and watching Jay use his expert building skills on the Bounty. He quickly retracted the spinning blade and pretended to be unconscious, just before the two guards looked in the small round window on the door.

They stopped for a moment and then swiftly moved along.

" _It's not safe,"_ She asserted, having heard the guards come and go without incident. _"I suggest you break out when everyone's at the big fight."_

"You mean 'we' must break out." He corrected.

" _Yes… of course."_ She answered.

Pixal felt awful. He clearly hadn't remembered what happened to her a few months ago, and he thought she was still in one piece. She could have cried. It was only because she did not want Zane to worry that she managed to stay composed. Her physical body was gone, so why was she in so much pain? Why did her digital form feel so broken? She couldn't go on without him; it sounded dramatic and ridiculous, but it was true. Once he was gone, she would have to find a way to shut down the computer where she was housed. Her life had been forever changed by Zane's presence, and she would never be the same without him.

"Pixal…?" He said inquisitively.

" _Yes Zane?"_ She answered.

"Will you tell me more about what my life is like?" He asked. "What my friends are like?"

" _Of course,"_ She paused for a moment. _"let's start with Kai, he's the ninja of fire, and until the Green Ninja was chosen, he was the leader."_

"I remember a little bit about him," Zane mentioned. "I think he has a sister, is she a ninja too?"

" _You mean Nya; she is not a ninja,"_ Pixal replied. _"she does fight alongside you and the others, but she uses robotic armour and goes by Samurai X on occasion."_

"What about the other ninja? Those guards mentioned Cole and Jay, and I seem to recall them having some kind of rivalry."

" _Yes, they both hold a torch for Nya,"_ She commented. _"though previous matchmaking algorithms determined that Cole was the best match, taking into account actual attraction and compatibility, Jay is in fact the more accurate match."_

"I didn't know that romance was such a big influence among my friends."

" _It isn't really, but the rivalry between Jay and Cole is definitely one of the underlayers of the team dynamics,"_ She explained, chuckling a little. _"and there's Lloyd, the aforementioned Green Ninja, he is the youngest, though he has stepped up to his foretold destiny quite well."_

"And what about us?" Zane inquired.

" _Us?"_ Pixal repeated back to him.

"Yes, us," He confirmed. "you have not told me anything about you but your name, yet, I feel like there is something there; something deep between us."

Pixal froze. Just how much did he actually remember? Owing to his calm demeanour, it was obvious that nothing specific had come back to him yet. How much should she tell him? She didn't want him to think she was dismissive of the relationship they had – after all, his memories would eventually come back and speak for themselves – but she also didn't want him to get too attached to her by building up their connection while he was still impressionable.

" _You are the ninja of ice, your father was a brilliant scientist and inventor – he built you out of spare parts – but you are unique and irreplaceable,"_ She began. _"you are logical and practical, but you are also brave and honourable and-"_

"You are still talking about _me_ ," He interrupted. "I want to know about _us_ … about _you_ …"

" _I cannot tell the story of us without talking about you Zane, you are amazing; you stand for peace, justice and courage in the face of all who threaten Ninjago,"_ She mentioned, repeating the words he had said to her when they first met. _"I am just a personal assistant droid, I was built to assist, that was my purpose – despite our differences, you and I are compatible – you gave me half of your heart, you saved my life."_

"You risked your life for me, it was the least I could do to get you back." He paraphrased what he had said to Nya when he first decided to share his power source with Pixal.

With his own words, more memories began to come back to him. He remembered meeting her for the first time and being struck by how beautiful she was, how she repaired him after their first encounter with the Overlord's mass produced nindroids, the pain of having to watch her power down after the black-out and how happy he was to have found her again in the aftermath of the Overlord battle. He remembered his friends, the fun they had playing video games together and trying to figure out who was the Green Ninja, the hard time they had with Garmadon and the Serpentine – trying to train Lloyd, both before and after his brush with the aging Tomorrow Tea, in time for the ultimate fight against his own father.

" _Zane, the guards have all left for the fight,"_ She mentioned, interceding his thought train. _"you should take this opportunity to escape."_

"Right."

He once again accessed the buzz saw from his right arm and began cutting through the chains holding him back. As sparks flew from the metal, more memories began to surface; the day he found his place of origin and learned he was a nindroid, not a human like his friends. He remembered his father – how he taught Zane to cook and made him a pet falcon, even telling him that he was built to protect those who couldn't protect themselves. He was reminded of Sensei Wu, the Spinjitzu teacher who was like a second father to him when he was lost, alone and vulnerable.

Soon he was clean through the first chain and he started on the next one. He recalled being angry with young Lloyd for dying his gi pink, only for it to be advantageous in escaping the Serpentine, that time they found out Cole's dad was not a royal blacksmith but a singer who was part of a band _called_ the Royal Blacksmiths. Kai's dogged obsession with becoming the Green Ninja, Jay's ever-growing infatuation with Nya and finding out that Nya was the one behind the Samurai X armour.

With the second chain severed, he was free!

Zane immediately clambered up to the window and started sawing through the bars that divided him and Pixal. She didn't seem too convinced that they would get out together, but he was determined to prove her wrong.

" _Hurry Zane, before they come back!"_ She nervously said.

Seconds later, the bars broke.

"I'm through!" He said as he crawled through the gap and landed on his feet. "Now let's get out of here!"

As he got a good look around her cell, a dreadful feeling began to form in the pit of his circuits. He saw one of Pixal's arms on a pile of scrap material, and the other arm on a table. Seeing her dismembered limbs made him sick and brought back the awful memory of watching her have her arm sliced off by one of the goons who held her captive. The resulting parade of sheer destruction that he caused immediately flashed into his mind. He had never experienced so much rage in his entire life, it washed over him like a tidal wave and threw him into a trance that nothing could stop.

"Pixal… you're… you're…"

" _Scrapped… I know,"_ She interrupted him sadly. _"but I couldn't tell you, not when you needed to get out of here."_

Zane looked at the computer screen where Pixal looked back at him. He was hit with a horrendous pain in his chest, as he realised what had happened to her. Whoever was holding them prisoner had mutilated her body, taken whatever parts they needed and left the rest of it here to rust like junk. If he wasn't so exhausted, it could well have set him off into another uncontrollable fury. He glanced at the arm placed rather poignantly next to the computer she was plugged into and he held her hand sorrowfully.

" _Sadly, this is where my journey ends, but not for you,"_ She declared. _"Zane you must go alone – find your friends, stop Chen – I know you have it in you, and don't worry about me."_

How was he supposed to not worry about her? Her body was destroyed, and her components were harvested, now she was going to be stuck down here; alone. The thought of it was too much to bear, as he touched the screen which displayed her image.

" _I will always be a part of you."_ She affirmed, trying to make him feel better.

She was so selfless, so caring, there had to be something he could do.

That's when he noticed her neural drive sticking out of a nearby port. He smiled as a brilliant idea entered his head.

"You're right," He grinned sweetly. "you will _always_ be a part of me."

" _Zane, what are you-?"_

Her question was interrupted by him pulling the hard drive out of the computer tower and inserting it into the processor port which, as another memory reminded him, she had installed in his head during the rebuild of his body. He blinked and seconds later, her image appeared on his internal vision.

" _Zane! You've taken my neural drive and inputted it into your processor!"_ She proclaimed with a smile. _"You're ingenious!"_

"Not ingenious, upgraded," He insisted, as another memory informed him that she had done the exact same thing for him when he first made his way into Cyrus Borg's system. "I bet there'll be other surprises about me we'll find out together, but until then, let's both get out-"

" _Zane, behind you!"_ She warned. _"Initiate evasive manu-"_

But it was too late.

Clouse had snuck up on him and knocked him out with a miniature version of the electrical staff that had taken him down in the first place. With a much smaller dose of voltage, Zane was unconscious, but would not be out for as long as he had the first time; no, he would no doubt be up and trying to escape again within a few hours.

Clouse turned to Raiden, who stood behind him, and glared.

"Next time, maybe it would be best to tie up the nindroid with chains thick enough that he _couldn't_ cut through them."

* * *

Thanks again for sticking with me, dear reader. And keep your eyes peeled for the prequel (and sequel) to my other Ninjago fanfic "Merry Christmas Darling".


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